My Lips are Sealed
by Seymour Butz
Summary: Something happens to Brittany that she desperately wants to keep a secret. What will happen when her secret is out? And what will Alvin do about it? Rated T.
1. All Grown Up?

My Lips are Sealed - Chapter One "All Grown Up?"

Note to readers: Before anyone askes, the kids are eight in this story.

Was she overbearing? Was she overprotective? To Brittany she was.

"Oh, come on Miss Miller," Brittany whined to her mother, in the living room, "everyone else gets to!"

"If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?" Miss Miller added, like a parent would.

Brittany groaned. "It's not fair, Miss Miller! I'm not a baby!"

"Brittany, as your mother, it's my responsiblity to care for you... little girls your age shouldn't go anywhere without adult supervision!"

"Well, what about when you let us play outside, or go to the chipmunks' house?"

"First of all, when you play outside, your under supervision of myself, and when I'm not looking, other neighbors can see you. When you're at the chipmunks' house, Dave keeps an eye on you."

"It's just not fair!"

"Brittany... life isn't fair. Now I'm sorry, but you cannot go to the mall by yourself."

Brittany folded her arms, and pouted.

"You'll thank me one of these days, Brittany." Miss Miller pointed out.

"Yeah..." Brittany mumbled. "Thanks for nothing!"

"What did you just say to me?!" Miss Miller barked.

Moments later, Brittany stormed into her bedroom, and threw herself on top of her bed.

"What's wrong, now?" Jeanette asked, while she typed up her essay on her computer.

"Miss Miller grounded me for talking back to her." Brittany mumbled.

"You know you should talk like that to Miss Miller." Eleanor said, digging through her foot locker.

"Miss Miller just doesn't get it..." Brittany said, as she turned to lie on her back, and stare at the ceiling. "She's just being a fraidy cat!"

"What are you talking about, Brittany?" Jeanette asked.

"Miss Miller is afraid of us growing up, and becoming independant." Brittany said.

"Well," Eleanor started, "all mothers are nervous about their children growing up... we're not going to be around forever... she's aware of that we'll leave the nest eventually, it's probably kind of an intimidating thought for her..."

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Brittany barked. "Miss Miller won't let me go to the mall by myself!"

"So?" Jeanette asked. "I have to go to the library with a friend, or she'll take me herself."

"Yeah," Eleanor added, "and she always makes sure I get a ride with one of the moms from soccer practice."

"But we should be able to go to the places by ourselves!" Brittany pointed out. "We're not little babies, and everyone else gets to!"

"Everyone else gets to watch R-rated movies, but we don't either." Jeanette pointed out.

"Everyone else gets to stay up as late as they want, but we don't." Eleanor added.

"There's a lot of things that other kids get to do that Miss Miller won't let us do, Brittany," Jeanette said, "but unlike most other parents, Miss Miller actually cares for us."

"We can't stay up as late as we want, because Miss Miller knows we need plenty of sleep at night, so we can be ready to tackle a new day the next morning." Eleanor said.

"We can't watch R-rated movies, because Miss Miller doesn't want any disturbing, and graphic content to scar us for life." Jeanette said.

"And lastly, Miss Miller doesn't want us to go anywhere by ourselves, because something could happen to us, and no one would be around to help us." Eleanor added.

Brittany blew a raspberry. "Ah, Miss Miller's simply too overprotective."

"One day, you'll thank her." Jeanette said.

Brittany rolled her eyes. The next morning, breakfast was rather quiet. Brittany wasn't eating, still upset about the previous night, as she sat, picking at her oatmeal. Miss Miller had got to thinking about her argument with Brittany last night, and actually came to a resolution.

"Girls?" Miss Miller asked.

"Yes, Miss Miller?" Jeanette and Eleanor responded, while Brittany ignored her.

"I've been thinking..." she said, "you know, you're eight-years-old, you're big girls now..."

Brittany slightly pointed her eyes towards Miss Miller.

"And I know you're pretty responsible young ladies at that..." Miss Miller continued.

Brittany turned her whole head towards Miss Miller.

"I think you girls are old enough, and responsible enough to go from place to place without my being around." Miss Miller added.

Brittany perked up, while Jeanette and Eleanor exchanged looks.

"Really?!" Brittany squealed.

"Really!" Miss Miller exclaimed. "I just have two rules."

"What are they?" Brittany asked, now sound a little disappointed.

"Number one," Miss Miller added, "I want you girls to always, I mean always, keep your cellphones with you at all times, so in case of an emergency, I can get ahold of you, or you can get ahold of me."

"That's a good rule." Jeanette said, making sure her cellphone was in her pocket.

"Next," Miss Miller continued, "I would like you girls to have someone accompany you on your little trips, be it your sisters, or your friends."

"That's doable." Eleanor said.

Miss Miller focused her attention on Brittany. "Brittany?"

Brittany shrugged. "Yeah, sure." As long as Miss Miller wasn't making herself be seen, Brittany didn't have to worry about her cramping her style... she thought.

Later that day at school, Brittany was at her locker, grabbing her little big, fuzzy backpack, while one of her friends walked up to her locker, next to her's.

"Hey, Britt!" Brittany's friend, Jamiela, said casually.

"How goes it?" Brittany asked.

"Pretty good, we've got that school dance coming up, you know?"

"Yeah." Brittany said cooly, not really interested in going.

"I'm heading out for the mall tomorrow to pick out a new dress, wanna come?" Jamiela then laughed. "Oh yeah, I forgot, your mommy won't let you go nowhere by yourself!" Jamiela mocked.

"You're wrong!" Brittany snapped. "Miss Miller said I could go anywhere I wanted, by myself!"

"Don't lie to me!" Jamiela said.

"I'm not!" Brittany said, sounding annoyed.

"Alright," Jamiela said, "so you wanna come tomorrow?"

"I'm there!" Brittany squealed.

"Coo. I'm heading down around noon, I'll meet you at the food court, we can grab some lunch, then go shopping when we're done."

"Sounds awesome!" Brittany said, slipping on her backpack.

Later that night, the chipettes began changing into their nightgowns, when Miss Miller walked in.

"Girls?" Miss Miller asked.

"Yes, Miss Miller?" The girls responded.

"I have another new rule of the house." She said.

The girls exchanged looks with each other, before Jeanette asked "What's that, Miss Miller?"

"Well," Miss Miller said, "since you girls really don't have to get up early Saturday mornings, I think you girls are old enough to stay up an hour later on Friday nights..."

The girls began smiling.

"... effective tonight!" Miss Miller said with a smile.

The girls were thrilled.

"Thanks, Miss Miller!" The chipettes squeaked, while Miss Miller left the room.

"Wow!" Eleanor said. "A whole hour of staying up on Friday nights!"

"This is great," Jeanette said, pulling a book out of the drawer of her nightstand, "now I can have a little more freetime to work on my book!"

"I'm heading downstairs and watching some late night TV!" Brittany said, leaving the room.

Brittany started for downstairs, when Miss Miller walked up from behind her.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" Miss Miller asked.

"Huh?!" Brittany yelped, startled. "Uh... I just... uh..."

"I thought I grounded you..." Miss Miller said, raising her eyebrow.

Brittany sighed, and trudged back her for her room.

"Well, it doesn't matter now..." Miss Miller said.

Brittany stopped dead in her tracks, before turning to Miss Miller with a confused look on her face.

"I'm afraid I may have been a little too harsh with you last night, Brittany," Miss Miller admitted, "I'm still not used to having my own children to look out for."

"Well..." Brittany said.

"Go watch you some TV," Miss Miller said, "just be sure to have it turned off, and be in bed by ten o'clock. Understood?"

"Yes, Miss Miller." Brittany said.

"Good girl." Miss Miller smiled, as she bent down, and kissed Brittany's head.

Brittany smiled, before she slid down the railing, and dashed into the living room to watch TV. At exactly 9:57, Brittany's show began to roll the closing credits, so she turned the TV off, marched upstairs, and plopped into her bed, with time to spare.

"Boy, staying up late seems so weird." Eleanor said.

"Yeah, but it sure is fun!" Jeanette added.

"You said it!" Brittany said. "Night girls!"

"Night, Brittany." Jeanette and Eleanor responded to their older sister.

The next morning, when the girls had breakfast...

"Girls," Miss Miller began, "I have to run some errands this afternoon, so don't be getting into too much trouble now."

The girls giggled. "We won't."

After Miss Miller left, Jeanette and Eleanor began to clean up the kitchen, while Brittany headed out. "Well, I'll see you two later!"

"Where are you going, Brittany?" Eleanor asked.

"Jamiela's meeting me at the mall today!" Brittany exclaimed.

"You need either of us to tag along with you?" Jeanette asked.

"Yeah, remember, Miss Miller said she wanted us to have a friend or relative with us while we're out." Eleanor added.

"I'm going to be with Jamiela," Brittany responded, "she's, like, one of my best friends ever."

"But what about while you're going to and from the mall?" Jeanette asked.

"The mall's just outside the neighborhood," Brittany reminded them, "besides, at this time, everyday, Mrs. Kellerman down the street will be out watering her garden, Mr. Jenkins from next door will be mowing his yard, and officer Tomkins will be parked at the end of the street, observing the neighborhood for his beat."

"That's okay, I guess." Jeanette said.

"Yeah, I guess." Eleanor agreed.

"I gotta go, I'm running late!" Brittany made her way out of the house, while her younger sisters continued to clean the kitchen.

Brittany walked down her walkway, turned right, and walked down the sidewalk. Like always, Mr. Jenkins from next door was mowing his front yard, and waved at Brittany as he watched her pass his house, while she waved back. Brittany walked further down the street, and looked across the street to see Mrs. Kellerman puttering in her garden. Mrs. Kellerman leaned up to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "Afternoon, Brittany!" Mrs. Kellerman called out.

"Hi, Mrs. Kellerman!" Brittany responded. "Your yellow roses are looking pretty!"

Mrs. Kellerman laughed. "They're yellow tulips, sweetheart."

"Oh, okay!" Brittany said, continuing down the street, before she came to the intersection, looking both ways as she did. "Safety first, right officer Tomkins?"

"Right!" officer Tomkins responded. "See you, Monday!" officer Tomkins said, referring to the fact that Monday, he will be giving talks to various third grade classes at the chipmunks and chipettes' school about stranger danger, neighborhood safety, the right time to call 911, among other things for the junior safety officer program.

Brittany crossed the street, looked both ways, before cross the street again, heading to the left, where she could see the mall at the end of the street, which was five blocks away. Jamiela was standing around in the food court, tapping her foot, and looking at her watch, before she finally heard Brittany's voice call out. "'Sup, girl?"

"What took you so long?!" Jamiela whined.

"Eh," Brittany said, with a shrug, "I had to say hi to some freaks along the way, let's eat!"

Brittany and Jamiela each grabbed a slice of pizza, and a large grape soda from the pizzarea, before they headed down to J.C. Penney. Once in the girl's department, Brittany helped Jamiela pick out her dress.

"Come on, Jamiela," Brittany hounded, "you always wear purple!" I'm telling you, blue is you!"

"Blue?" Jamiela cringed.

"Yeah," Brittany said, "it brings out your eyes!"

"Maybe..." Jamiela said, "but... blue?"

"Come on... here!" Brittany spotted a cute, powder blue dress, and grabbed it. "And it's in your size!"

Jamiela took the dress from Brittany, and held it up in front of her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, try it on!" Brittany said.

Moments later, Jamiela stepped out of a changing room, wearing the powder blue dress. "Well, how do I look?"

Brittany tilted her head, and squinted her eyes. "Well... it seems to be missing something..." Brittany then perked up. "Accessories!"

"Maybe," Jamiela said, "but if I spend too much money, my dad'll kill me!"

"Okay, okay..." Brittany said, all too familiar with Miss Miller killing her for spending too much money. That's when Brittany turned her head, and saw something in the hat department. "Wait a minute..."

Brittany brought back a fancy, little, blue hat, and placed it on the back on Jamiela's head.

"There, that's better!" Brittany said.

"Yeah, I like it, too!" Jamiela said, looking in the mirror on the door of her changing room.

After a few minutes, Jamiela was carrying a J.C. Penney bag, as she and Brittany began to leave the store.

"Seriously, Britt," Jamiela said, "you ought to pick you something out, and come to the dance!"

"Ah, those dances bore me to tears!" Brittany said.

"Oh come on," Jamiela said, "I happen to know Robert's had his eyes on you, and he's going to be there."

Brittany paused. "Robert Baxter? From Mr. Simmon's class?"

"Yep!" Jamiela said.

"Wow..." Brittany said, looking back towards J.C. Penney. "Well... I've been needing to pick out a new outfit anyway..."

Another few minutes later, Brittany stepped out of another dressing room, wearing hot pink sweater, a baby blue mini skirt, and black knee-high boots. "What do you think?" She asked Jamiela.

"I think it's too preppy." Jamiela said.

"I like preppy!" Brittany said, looking at herself in the mirror. "Besides, I have enough allowance money for this ensemble!"

"Whatever you say." Jamiela said.

Brittany later walked out of J.C. Penney with a bag in her hand herself, but her old outfit was in the bag, she wanted to wear her new outfit home, so she can show it off, first thing she gets home. Brittany and Jamiela headed down the sidewalk outside the mall.

"Well, see you later." Jamiela said.

"I'll call you sometime tonight." Brittany said.

"Cool." Jamiela said, as she went her seperate way, before Brittany crossed the street, to head down her street.

Brittany made it to the corner, when she decided she wanted to grab some ice cream, so instead of heading for her street, she walked down the street a ways further, to the ice cream parlor, which was a couple of blocks down. Brittany had an ice cream cone, and before long, she was on her way again, but as she strolled down the sidewalk, she heard a whistle coming from an alley she was passing. Brittany stopped and looked around, before she saw a punk teenager with long, black hair, a black t-shirt with a skull on the front, and baggy black jeans, leaning up against the wall of the alley, eyeballing her.

"Hey there, hot stuff." The punk said to her.

"Yeah..." Brittany said, not interested in engaging in conversation with this 'loser', "hey there..."

"You know, you're the hottest girl who's crossed my path all day." The punk said, trying to flirt with her.

Brittany smirked. "I bet you say that to every girl who crosses your path."

"Only the ones with style, and girl, you got style." He said.

"Well," Brittany said, "I do know a thing or too about today's fashion."

"Tell me about it." He said, before pausing. "No, seriously, tell me about it."

"Look, I gotta go," Brittany said, "maybe some other time."

Brittany turned to leave, but the punk then stepped in front of her, preventing her from continuing her route for home. "Maybe you didn't hear me..." he said "I'd like to hear all about it... all about you... tell me everything."

"Oh, would you get lost?" Brittany said, growing annoying.

The punk shrugged, and stepped aside to let Brittany pass. Brittany shook her head, and rolled her eyes, before continuing for home, but with lightning speed, the punk grabbed her arm, and pulled her into his alley.

"Hey!" Brittany shrieked. "Let go of me, you perv!"

The punk dragged Brittany further down his alley, and brought her to a busted up door, which he opened, dragging her into a poorly lit room, full of garbage, and empty cardboard boxes.

"Okay," Brittany said, "I'm going to have to get rough with you!"

The punk laughed. "Hit me with your best shot, girly!"

Brittany clinched her fist, and punched the teenaged punk in the mouth. He began chuckling, as he rubbed his jaw. "Was that your best shot?" He asked her.

Brittany braced herself, trying to look like she was getting into attack mode.

"Let me show you mine..." the punk kicked Brittany in the mouth, knocking her back. Brittany was taken completely by surprise, as she wiped the blood away from her bottom lip. The punk stood over Brittany. "Had enough?"

Brittany tried to hide her tears, his kick was really painful.

"Let's party..." the punk said, as he scooped Brittany up, and took her into another room, lying her on the couch, and proceeding to pull her underwear down.

Brittany screamed, pulled herself loose, and tried to run out of the building, but the punk tackled her to the ground, causing her to scream even more, she he pulled her back into the room, locking the door as he did. 


	2. Big, Fat Liar

My Lips are Sealed - Chapter Two "Big, Fat Liar"

Walking down the sidewalk were a pair of tiny, bare feet. Above the feet was a pair of little legs, that had bruises on the insides of the thighs. Above the legs, a baby blue mini-skirt that was tattered around the edge. Above the skirt, was a shredded hot pink sweater, almost looking like a bunch of strands of loose yarn over someone's body, which also had bruises all over it, particularly the chest. Above the body was a face. A sad face, with swollen lips, and a black eye, among other little bruises across the face. Brittany Miller had just had the worst of her life, as she fought to keep the tears back on her way home. Brittany was relieved that no one was home when she arrived, so she dashed upstairs, and changed into her nightgown, to hide the bruises on her arms and legs, while she sat at her vanity, going through her makeup.

"I've got to hide these bruises..." she thought to herself. "I can't tell anyone what happened to me!"

Brittany figured if she added just the right amount of makeup to her face, she could hide her bruises without anyone noticing, but before she had the chance to do anything, Jeanette walked into the room, carrying a large stack of books from the library.

"Have fun at the mall?" Jeanette asked her older sister.

Brittany shrieked. "Don't you ever knock?!"

"Huh?" Jeanette asked, as Brittany tried to hide her face. "Since when do I need to knock to come into my own room?"

"Since I wasn't ready for anyone to walk in just yet!" Brittany shrieked. "Now get out, knock first, then wait for me to tell you to come in!"

Jeanette stood beside her bed, completely puzzled by Brittany's outburst.

"Go!" Brittany screamed.

Jeanette hesitantly did as she was instructed. She left the room, closed the door, paused for a second, before she brought up a shaky hand to knock on the door.

"Just a minute!" Brittany screamed from inside, while Jeanette waited patiently, outside. "Come in!" Brittany barked.

Jeanette opened the door to enter her bedroom. "What's gotten into you, Brit..."

Before Jeanette could finish, she was met with Brittany, still sitting at her vanity, but this time, she had her empty J.C. Penney bag over her head, with holes cut into it for her eyes.

"Brittany, what are you doing with that bag over your head?" Jeanette asked.

"What bag?" Brittany asked.

"That J.C. Penney bag over your head..." Jeanette said.

"Oh, the J.C. Penney bag over my head..." Brittany said.

"Yeah..."

"Oh, I'm just starting a new trend," Brittany lied, "it's really catching on!"

"This isn't you." Jeanette said.

"Aw, give it a chance, Jeanette," Brittany said, "don't be scared of it because it's new, you'll get used to it."

"No, I mean, this isn't like you..." Jeanette said, not buying into Brittany's story, "did you get another bad haircut from that crazy barber again?"

"No, I didn't get another bad haircut from that crazy barber again." Brittany mocked.

"Come on, Brittany, take off the bag..." Jeanette insisted.

"This bag will never leave my head, thank you!" Brittany barked.

Jeanette walked over, and attempted to take the bag off herself, but Brittany resisted. Jeanette was determined, though, to see what it was Brittany was hiding, while Brittany was just as determined to keep the bag on. Brittany started slapping her hands at Jeanette, trying to keep her at bay, but Jeanette was persistant. Brittany leaned further back to avoid Jeanette, but Jeanette would lean over her older sister, trying to reach the bag. In the confusion, with Brittany squirming so much while she was leaning back, the bag worked its way off of her head, but not before Brittany lifted up her foot, and knocked Jeanette down with it. While Jeanette laid flat on her back on the floor, Brittany stood over her, unaware that she no longer had the bag over her head.

"If you want a bag for yourself so much, Jeanette, then get your own!" Brittany barked.

Jeanette gasped. "What happened to your face?!"

Brittany paused for a minute, before bringing up a hand to feel around her face, realizing the bag was no longer on. Brittany then brought her arms up, in an attempt to keep Jeanette from looking at her. "Don't you dare look at me!"

"But what happened to you, Brittany?" Jeanette asked, as she picked herself up.

"None of your bees' wax!" Brittany said, as she sat back down at her vanity. Brittany looked at herself in the mirror, not even really realizing just how bad her injuries were. She teared up again, and buried her face in her arms to cry.

"How did this happen, Brittany?" Jeanette asked.

"Just leave me alone!" Brittany mumbled through her arms.

Jeanette never saw Brittany this bruised up, or this upset before, she didn't know what to do. Jeanette easily walked over, and placed her hands on Brittany's shoulders, in such a loving way. "Brittany..."

"I said leave me alone!!!" Brittany yelled, as she nudged Jeanette away with her shoulder.

"But, Brittany..." Jeanette said, in a voice of concern.

Brittany stood up, and grabbed a large, round bottle of perfume off her vanity. "I said leave me alone!!!" Brittany screamed at the top of her lungs, as she brought her arm back to throw the bottle at Jeanette.

Jeanette was scared to death, so she ran out of the room, shutting the door behind her, just as the bottle of perfume shattered all over the door. Jeanette was in utter horror. Brittany was notorious for having a short fuse, and a bad temper, but never before had Brittany been this upset about anything. But that still didn't stop Jeanette from wondering, where in the world did Brittany get those bruises? How did she get the black eye? Why are her lips so swollen? All Jeanette could hear, from inside her room, was the sound of Brittany crying. Whatever happened, it must have been something completely awful.

Brittany wasn't safe anymore. She knew that dinner was about to be served, and that Jeanette had probably already blabbed about her face to Eleanor and Miss Miller. Brittany spent most of the afternoon, locked in her room, trying to think of an excuse to explain what happened to Miss Miller, when she demands an explanation.

"So I was walking home from the mall..." Brittany said to herself, "no, then she'll know I was walking around without company... uh... I was playing outside... and this big dog came up and... no, then Miss Miller would go looking for the dog..."

Time passed, without knowledge, and pretty soon, Miss Miller had approached the bottom of the stairs, calling up to Brittany's room. "Brittany! Dinner's ready!"

Brittany waited a few seconds, so Miss Miller wouldn't be standing at the foot of the stairs, as she walked down, quietly musing to herself. "So I was playing outside... tripped in the mud... hit the fence... outside... tripped in mud... hit the fence... mud... fence... mud... fence..."

"So the library is going to be closed all week long next week for remodeling," Jeanette told Miss Miller and Eleanor at the dinner table, "I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"Oh, don't worry, Jeanette," Miss Miller said, "it's not the end of the world..."

Brittany slowly slipped into the dining room, and took her seat. "Here I am..."

"Oh good, tonight, we're having..." Miss Miller turned to face Brittany, but let out a loud gasp of astonishment. "Oh my heavens!"

Even Eleanor's jaw dropped in astonishment at Brittany's face.

"Brittany Miller..." Miss Miller, standing up from her seat, and walking over to Brittany. "Who did this to you?!"

That threw Brittany completely off. She had been working on an explanation, preparing for Miss Miller to ask her how it happened, she didn't expect her to ask who did this to her. Miss Miller could tell with one look that this was brought on by another, and wanted to know who it was. Brittany hesitated, trying hard to keep Miss Miller from finding out what really happened, and who really did what to her. Finally, Brittany just blurted out the first name that came to her mind.

"Alvin!" Brittany shrieked.

"Alvin? Alvin Seville?" Miss Miller asked for a confirmation.

"Yeah..." Brittany lied with a sniff. "Uh... Alvin got into this... uh... arguement with me... uh... about how the chipmunks are the better band, and saying some nasty things about the chipettes... and uh... when I tried to defend the honor of me and my sisters... he... he beat me up..." Brittany said, trying to break her voice up, and sniffle a bit.

Jeanette and Eleanor looked at each other in disbelief. They know Alvin is prone to argue with Brittany alot, but would he really resort to beating Brittany up? Miss Miller looked angry, and took Brittany by the arm.

"Come on." Miss Miller said, leading Brittany out of the dining room.

"What?" Brittany asked hestitantly. "What?"

Miss Miller took Brittany into the living room, and picked up the phone. Meanwhile, at the Seville house, Dave was sitting in his study, trying to write some new songs for his boys, when he heard the phone ring. Dave got up from his piano, and walked across the room to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Dave answered, and was met with a screeching "David!" "Oh, hello, Miss Miller... what... what seems to be... uh..."

On the other end, Miss Miller barked into the phone. "David! My Brittany is standing right here beside me with a black eye, swollen lips, all different kinds of bruises on her face!"

"Oh my goodness!" Dave said. "What happened?"

"She tells me she got into a scuffle... with Alvin!" Miss Miller shouted.

"Alvin?!" Dave asked.

With impecable timing, Alvin strolled into the room. "You call my name, and I appear!" Alvin boasted.

"Alvin! Miss Miller is on the phone," Dave said to Alvin, "she says Brittany has a black eye and says that Brittany is saying you did this to her!"

"Say what?!" Alvin exclaimed. "I haven't touched that girl! As far as I'm concerned, I don't even want to see her again for quite sometime!"

Dave spoke back into the phone. "Alvin says he hasn't touched."

"Well, Brittany says he beat her up over an arguement about the bands!" Miss Miller said.

"Did you, Alvin?" Dave asked. "Get into an arguement with Brittany about the bands?"

"Pff!" Alvin responded. "I cut off all communication with Brittany!"

Dave sighed into the phone. "He says it wasn't him."

"Well, Brittany says it was... you know what this means, David?" Miss Miller asked.

"Yes, I do..." Dave said, giving Alvin a stern look, "one of our children is lying... I'll call you back..." Dave hung up, still giving Alvin a stern look. "Alvin..."

"Hey, I'm not lying, Dave!" Alvin said, getting nervous by Dave's look. "I swear!"

Dave wasn't so sure, especially after a couple of weeks ago when Alvin brought home a B on his report card in math, only to discover Alvin took an ink pen, and touched it up to make it look like a B when it was really an F.

Back at the Miller house, Miss Miller was giving Brittany an equally stern look.

"You do believe me, don't you Miss Miller?" Brittany asked, crying her eyes out.

Miss Miller sighed. "Eat your dinner, Brittany, we'll talk about this later."

Brittany hung her head, and stepped back into the dining room, while Dave sent Alvin up to his room.

"We'll talk about this later, Alvin!" Dave said, as he watched Alvin trudge upstairs to his bedroom.

Alvin walked in, and slammed the door behind him, startling his younger brothers.

"What's the matter, Alvin?" Theodore asked.

"A hurricane named Brittany!" Alvin barked.

"What have you and Brittany gotten into now?" Simon asked.

"Brittany's spreading some kind of lie about me beating the crap out of her!" Alvin said, tossing a dart the dart board in has hanging up on the closet door, with Brittany's picture on it.

"Why would Brittany say something like that?" Theodore asked.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Alvin asked. "She's trying to get me into trouble... she's probably sitting up in her room, having a big laugh about it... boy the next time I see her, I'm gonna beat the crap out of her, only this time, I really will beat the crap out of her!"

"Now Alvin," Simon said, "you know violence is never the answer."

"Yeah, and Dave said he doesn't want you fighting girls." Theodore added.

"Well, she's going to get what's coming to her!" Alvin barked.

Back at the Miller house, Brittany sat alone in her room at her vanity mirror, still trying to figure out how to hide her bruises with makeup, while Jeanette and Eleanor stood outside, quietly.

"Ellie?" Jeanette asked.

"Yeah, Jean?" Eleanor responded.

"I'm scared to go in there... Brittany got physical with me earlier..."

"Don't worry, I'll go in..." Eleanor said, as she quietly walked into the room, while Jeanette waited outside. "So, you ran into Alvin at the mall today, huh?" Eleanor asked.

Brittany slammed her powder puff down on her the vanity. "For God's sake, Jeanette, leave me alone alr..." Brittany turned around, and saw it was Eleanor who came into the room. "Oh... El..."

"It just strikes me a little curious that you would find time to run into Alvin at the mall, while you were supposed to spend the entire afternoon at the mall with Jamiela." Eleanor said.

"Well... uh... uh... uh..." Brittany stammered.

"What really happened, Brittany?" Eleanor asked.

"Like I'm going to tell you!" Brittany snapped.

"You know, Brittany," Eleanor continued, "the more you lie, the more you're going to have to think of lies to cover up other lies... you can't keep it up forever..."

"Watch me." Brittany said, as she applied powder to her black eye. "Ow..."

"Well... if you can't tell me what really happened..." Eleanor said, "can you at least tell me why you can't tell me?"

Brittany finally had it, and snapped. "Because he'll kill me if I tell anybody!"

Eleanor was taken back, but suddenly it made a little more sense to her. "Who said he was going to kill you?"

Brittany started tearing up a bit. "Okay... I'll tell you..." Brittany gently wiped her eyes. "When I left the mall... I just had to stop by the ice cream parlor for a scoop of ice cream..."

"Yeah?" Eleanor asked.

"Yeah," Brittany responded, "so anyway, when I was walking home... I was passed this alley... there was this punk there... he tried flirting with me, but I wasn't going to have it..."

"Ever seen him before?" Eleanor asked.

"Nah," Brittany said, "but anyway... he... well... he grabbed me... he dragged me down the alley, and took me into this filthy old apartment... that's when he... when he..." Brittany buried her face into her hands. Bringing the events up again was terribly hard for her.

Eleanor walked over to Brittany, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "What did he do to you, Brittany?"

Brittany sniffed back the tears. "He... he... he raped me!"

"He what?!" Eleanor asked.

"He raped me!" Brittany cried. "He flat out raped me, and if I tried to fight back, he'd punch me!" Brittany continued crying.

"Brittany?" Eleanor asked. "You have to tell Miss Miller the truth!"

"I can't!" Brittany cried.

"You have to!"

"I can't!!!" Brittany screamed.

Eleanor paused for a moment, before heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Brittany asked.

"If you won't tell Miss Miller, then I will!" Eleanor said, wanting to help her big sister.

Brittany gasped, before running after Eleanor. Eleanor only managed to crack the door open, before Brittany slammed it shut, and pinned Eleanor up against the door, almost pressing her nose up against Eleanor's.

"You listen to me, Eleanor..." Brittany said. Eleanor could just see the pain and hurt in her eyes. "If you spread of word of this to anybody... I'll... I'll... I'll do the same thing to you, myself! You got that?!"

Eleanor gulped. She so wanted to help Brittany, but she can see Brittany's been through enough pain and trauma to last a lifetime. She probably couldn't handle the 'whole world' knowing her dirty little secret.

"You got that?!" Brittany barked.

Eleanor nodded. "I got it, Brittany... my lips are sealed."

Brittany broke down again, while Eleanor embraced her older sister.

"I'm sorry..." Eleanor whispered into Brittany's ear. 


	3. Jabberjaws

My Lips are Sealed - Chapter Three "Jabberjaws"

The chipettes laid in their beds, each thinking her sisters were asleep, but the fact of the matter was, none of them could sleep. Brittany tried, but she tossed, and she turned. All night long, having flashbacks of the events of the afternoon, of when she was attacked, beaten, and raped by a teenaged, street punk, who showed no remorse for his actions. He was a thrill-seeker, and got a rush out of raping a seemingly flirtaceous girl, who was no less than ten years his own age. Brittany was always a little flirtaceous, one look at her, and she had guys going wild. She was always stylish, and she always knew being a little flashy didn't hurt either. And to that punk, that greasy, teenaged punk, Brittany was the perfect target. Brittany didn't want anything to do with this guy, one look at him, and Brittany knew this guy was trouble. But he over powered her. The flashbacks haunted Brittany in her sleep, while Eleanor quietly snuck out of her own bed, and tip-toed to the other side of the room, over to Jeanette's bed.

"Jeanette?" Eleanor whispered. "Jeanette?"

Jeanette rolled over to face Eleanor. "Eleanor?"

Eleanor grabbed Jeanette's glasses off her nightstand, and slipped them on her older sister's face. "Down in the den..."

Shortly later, Jeanette had followed Eleanor into the den.

"I overheard the whole conversation, Eleanor," Jeanette admitted, "I don't like to pry into others' personal business, but I needed to know what happened to Brittany."

"I feel so terrible for her, Jeanette..." Eleanor said, with a tear in her eye, "why Brittany? So many kids are sexually harassed each, and everyday... you never think it'll happen to you, and you never think it'll happen to a loved one..."

"I know..." Jeanette said, as she wiped her eyes, "is this a punishment? Is this what Brittany gets for being so outgoing, and flashy, and preppy?"

"Brittany said she tried to avoid the guy."

"I know, but still, Brittany is... well... Brittany..."

"Jeanette? I just don't know what to do..." Eleanor sniffed, "I love Brittany... she's my big sister... she's hurting... I want to help her... but she doesn't want my help...

"She's scared." Jeanette said, sounding a little timid herself. "I don't think it's so much the fact that this guy is threatening to kill her if she tells... I think... I think she's afraid of Miss Miller's reaction..."

"Miss Miller is going to be so devastated!" Eleanor cried.

"I know..." Jeanette said softly.

Eleanor wiped her eyes. "I just don't know what to do, Jeanette... one the one hand, if I told Miss Miller what happened to Brittany... Miss Miller would be upset, but she would do all in her power to right the wrong... though I would lose Brittany's trust in the process... but on the other hand, if I don't tell Miss Miller... Brittany wouldn't have to worry about her secret getting out... but she would have to continue to make up new lies to cover the old ones..."

"Not to mention the fact that she's already blamed Alvin for assaulting her," Jeanette said,"he's probably being punished for something he didn't do."

"What do you think, Jeanette?" Eleanor asked. "I want us to come to a solution together... for our sister... for Brittany..."

"There's only one thing we can do, Ellie..." Jeanette began.

"We have to talk." Jeanette and Eleanor said in unison.

"Brittany will be mad at us for a while..." Eleanor said, "but she'll thank us in the end."

"Right." Jeanette agreed.

Jeanette and Eleanor embraced each other, before sneaking back to bed. The next morning, Brittany refused to take off her little pink housecoat, as the bruises on her arms, and her thighs were looking worse today, than they were yesterday. Her black eye certainly looked a lot worse, so worse in fact, that her eye was completely swollen shut. Breakfast was quiet that morning.

"You girls not sleep well last night?" Miss Miller asked.

"No..." the girls mumbled in return.

"Jeanette, I'll need you to help me with the shopping today," Miss Miller said, "nothing much, just a few little items to get us through the week."

"Yes, Miss Miller." Jeanette responded.

Later, when the ladies finished their breakfast, Eleanor whispered to Jeanette.

"So..." Eleanor whispered.

"I'll drop the bomb on Miss Miller as we drive home from the store..." Jeanette whispered.

"Fine," Eleanor whispered. "I'll try to talk to Alvin while you're gone."

"Okay." Jeanette whispered.

Jeanette and Eleanor placed their dishes in the sink, though, Brittany was eyeballing them the whole time. About an hour later, when the housework was done, Jeanette accompanied Miss Miller to the store, while Brittany and Eleanor stayed behind. Right away, Brittany began to give Eleanor the third degree.

"What was all that whispering about?" Brittany demanded to know.

"What are you talking about?" Eleanor asked.

"Don't play stupid with me, Eleanor!" Brittany barked. "You and Jeanette were whispering about something! You told her, didn't you? You told her!"

"Relax, Britt, relax!" Eleanor tried to calm Brittany down. "We were simply talking about that spelling test we have tomorrow."

"Aw, crap!" Brittany snapped her finger. "I forgot to study for that..." Brittany held up her hand in front of her face. "Going to be kind of hard to with only one good eye..."

"I'll help you when I get back." Eleanor said casually.

"Where are you going?" Brittany asked.

"Oh, uh..." Eleanor tried to think of an excuse, "I was just going to bake some cupcakes with Theodore today."

"Oh..." Brittany responded... "well... uh... if you see Alvin..."

Eleanor placed her hand on Brittany's shoulder, "don't worry, Britt, I won't say anything!"

Brittany sighed in relief. "Thanks, Ellie." Brittany wrapped her arms around her baby sister, and embraced her tightly.

Moments later, Eleanor stood outside the Seville door, knocking on it, ready to explain everything to Alvin. After a few seconds, Dave answered the door.

"Hello, Eleanor!" Dave greeted the chipette.

"Hi, Dave," Eleanor responded, "uh... can I talk to Alvin?"

"I'm sorry, Eleanor," Dave said, "Alvin's grounded this weekend, he can't see any friends at all."

"Um..." Eleanor mumbled, "what if it's important?"

"I'm sure whatever it is, it can wait until you see him at school tomorrow." Dave said.

Eleanor sighed. "Well... okay... bye..." Eleanor turned and left, while Dave stepped back into the house.

When Eleanor returned home, Brittany was suspicious.

"I thought you were going to bake cupcakes with Theodore?" Brittany asked.

"He wasn't home." Eleanor lied.

An hour later, when Miss Miller and Jeanette returned home from the store, Eleanor was curious as to why Miss Miller didn't seem upset, so Eleanor took Jeanette aside in the den, after the groceries were put up.

"Well?" Eleanor asked. "Didn't you tell Miss Miller?"

"I couldn't..." Jeanette admitted, "I chickened out, Eleanor, I just couldn't bring myself to tell her."

Jeanette was ashamed of herself, though Eleanor gently patted her back.

"Well... we'll drop the bomb on her tonight... together..." Eleanor said.

"Yeah..." Jeanette sighed. "Did you get to talk to Alvin?"

"No." Eleanor sighed. "But we need to talk to him as soon as possible, Dave's grounded him for beating up Brittany."

"This is bad..." Jeanette said.

"I know, but we'll fix this for Brittany's sake" Eleanor said.

Miss Miller sat in her bed later that night, reading a book, when she heard a faint tap at her bedroom door.

"Who is it?" Miss Miller asked.

Jeanette and Eleanor walked into the room.

"What are you girls doing up past your bedtime?" Miss Miller asked.

"We need to talk to you, Miss Miller." Eleanor said.

"Yeah," Jeanette added, "it's kind of important..."

"Alright, ladies..." Miss Miller said, setting her book aside, "what is it?"

Jeanette and Eleanor froze.

"Well?" Miss Miller asked.

Jeanette and Eleanor remained frozen.

"Uh..." Jeanette stuttered.

"Well, we uh..." Eleanor began.

"Jeanette... Eleanor..." Miss Miller pressed.

"Gosh..." Eleanor said, "I forgot what it was we needed to talk to you about... do you remember, Jeanette?"

"Uh... no..." Jeanette lied.

"Look girls," Miss Miller said, "why don't you head on back to bed? You need your sleep for that spelling test tomorrow."

"Okay." Jeanette and Eleanor said, sadly, before walking out of Miss Miller's room.

"We can't keep chickening out like this." Eleanor said to Jeanette.

"I know, I know." Jeanette said, in a defeated tone of voice.

"If Brittany doesn't get help soon, it's only going to get worse." Eleanor said.

"I know, I know." Jeanette said, in a more frustrated tone.

Jeanette and Eleanor went back to bed, each determined to say something to somebody in the morning, whether Brittany liked it or not. The chipettes overslept the next morning, so Miss Miller ran into the girls' room to wake them up.

"Come on, girls!" Miss Miller exclaimed. "You're late for school!"

The girls shot up, and started getting ready for school. Except Brittany.

"Can't I stay home today, Miss Miller?" Brittany pleaded.

"Don't you have a spelling test today, Brittany?" Miss Miller asked.

"Well... yeah... but... oh, alright..." Brittany said, sadly.

"I know you feel embarrassed about people seeing your injuries, Brittany," Miss Miller said, "but if it bothers you, just tell people you don't want to talk about it."

Miss Miller was so busy trying to rush the girls for school, that once again, Jeanette and Eleanor missed out on coming clean to her regarding Brittany, who was so tense at school that day. Brittany wore her little pink hoodie, and pink sweat pants to keep people from seeing her bruises. She was relieved, however, when she saw Alvin wasn't in class that day. Or so she thought. In actuality, he had been sent to the principal's office for trying to make copies of the teacher's answer books, and planning to hand them out to students. Brittany did a fairly decent job at hiding her bruises, she didn't draw much attention to herself during the day, and once recess came around, she sat off to the side somewhere, afraid to play with her friends, because she didn't want them ragging on her about what happened. She didn't hear anything, but someone was approaching her. Someone, who was rolling up their red sleeves, and smacking his little, fuzzy fist. Alvin took no mistake in who the little girl in the pink hoodie was, as he walked towards her direction, ready to beat her up for blaming him for beating her up, which he thought was her way of getting him trouble for the sake of having a good time at his expense.

"Hold still while I beat the tar outta you!" Alvin said, as he drew his fist back.

Brittany turned around to face Alvin.

"Whoa!" Alvin yelled, shocked beyond belief, that he almost lost his balance. "Holy cow... you really do have a shiner!"

Alvin saw Brittany's black eye, which wasn't as bad as it had been the past two days, in addition to the small bruises across the rest of her face, and her lips were no longer swollen.

"Alvin..." Brittany struggled to say to him, "I have to talk to you..."

"Yeah?" Alvin asked. "Well, I have to talk to you, too!"

"Come on..." Brittany said, as she took Alvin's hand, and led him away.

Moments later, Alvin and Brittany were back inside the building, where Brittany dragged him to the janitor's closet, where they snuck in.

"Now then," Alvin began, "what's the big idea getting yourself that shiner, then telling Miss Miller I beat you up?!"

"Okay, look, I'm sorry, okay?" Brittany began. "But when Miss Miller asked me who did this to me... I had to make up a lie to cover the truth... I couldn't think of anybody, you were the first person who popped into my mind, so I told her you did it!"

"Yeah, and now, thanks to you, I was grounded all weekend long, because Dave thought I was lying when I told him I didn't do it!" Alvin barked.

"I'm sorry, Alvin..." Brittany said, sadly.

Alvin sighed. "Well, who did do this to you, anyway?"

"I'm not telling anyone, I sure am not going to tell you of all people!" Brittany said.

"Why not?" Alvin asked.

"Because you cannot keep a secret!" Brittany told him.

"I resent that!" Alvin said, but paused. "Oh, wait... yeah, you're right... well, can you tell me how it happened?"

"Fat chance!" Brittany said. Brittany then let out a sad sigh, before she sunk on an upside-down bucket. "This is getting complicated... there's got to be an easier way to keep people from finding out the truth..."

"Was it somebody from this school?" Alvin asked.

"No." Brittany said.

"Was it somebody from the neighborhood?" Alvin asked.

"No." Brittany said.

"Is Miss Miller secretly a child abuser?" Alvin asked.

"No!" Brittany snapped.

"Then who was it?!" Alvin asked, trying to annoy Brittany into spilling the beans.

"Some street punk!" Brittany blurted out.

"Some street punk?!" Alvin asked. "What were you doing messing around with a street punk?!"

"I wasn't! He was the one messing with me!" Brittany groaned. "Perfect... now word's out, and you're going to blab to everybody that I got attacked, assaulted, beat up, raped..."

"Raped?"

"... and humiliated by that idiotic, slimy, filthy, low-down, sneaky, perverted..." Brittany buried her face into her hands, and began crying.

Alvin felt bad for Brittany, now that he knew the truth. Alvin knelt down in front of Brittany, removed her hands from her face, and wiped her tears away for her. Such a caring gesture, Brittany never would've imagined she'd receive from Alvin, who was not only her best friend, but most of the time, her worst enemy as well.

"I'm sorry, Brittany." Alvin said, tenderly, as more tears welled out of Brittany's eyes.

"I'm a wreck..." Brittany sniffed, "I'm trying to hide these bruises from the world... I'm trying to hide the fact from everyone else, and it keeps coming out of me like cheese from the can..."

"Brittany?" Alvin asked. "Where did this punk attack you?"

Brittany wiped her nose with her sleeve. "In that alley... across the street from the mall... as your coming from the ice cream parlor the next block over."

Brittany let more tears leave her eyes. She didn't want Alvin, of all people, to know this happened to her, and where it happened. Alvin wiped the tears away from Brittany's eyes again, before he wrapped his arms around her, and gently embraced her. He never said anything, but deep down, he really cared for Brittany. Deep down, he was in love with Brittany. When it really started to sink in that somebody did such unspeakable things to Brittany, Alvin grew angrier, and angrier. As he held Brittany closely, he made a vow then and there that he would make that punk pay for what he did to her. The bell rang. Recess was over.

Later, that afternoon, after school, Jamiela caught up with Brittany, before she left her locker.

"Hey, Britt!" Jamiela called out. "Where have you been all..."

Jamiela grabbed Brittany's shoulder, and turned her around, also taken completely by surprise at seeing her black eye.

"Good night, Britt, where'd you get that thing?!" Jamiela asked.

"What thing?" Brittany asked, acting stupid.

"That black stuff around your eye, girl!" Jamiela said.

"Oh, that black stuff... oh, when I was looking through the microscope during science, someone had black shoe polish on the eyepiece." Brittany lied. Now why didn't she think of an excuse like that?

"What about these other blue marks across your face?" Jamiela asked.

"Well, you know what Blue Mondays will do to you..." Brittany said, as she slowly walked away from Jamiela.

There's something fishy about this, Jamiela thought. Jeanette and Eleanor made it home, after school, before Brittany, since they didn't stop to talk to anybody after school was over. Jeanette and Eleanor walked into the living room, where they saw Miss Miller going through the bookcase.

"Welcome home, girls!" Miss Miller greeted her daughters. "How was school today?"

"Miss Miller?" Eleanor asked. "We need to talk to you."

"For real, this time." Jeanette added.

"What about?" Miss Miller asked, as she continued going through the bookcase.

Brittany walked down the sidewalk towards her house, keeping her head down low, and her hoodie on at all costs to keep anyone from noticing her. She was hating herself for telling Alvin the truth. She knows Alvin's going to be telling everyone he knows about what happened to her, and when he does, she'll never live it down. Everybody will be ridiculing her about it for the rest of her life. Brittany walked up the wallway, and opened the front door, to hear Miss Miller, crying, in the other room. Brittany strolled over, lowering her hood to see what was going on. Miss Miller sat on her chair, absolutely devastated, while Jeanette and Eleanor stood before her. Miss Miller looked up for a second to try to regain her composure, when she saw Brittany standing in the entrance of the living room.

"Brittany Miller..." she said through her tears, "is this true?"

Brittany then looked over at Jeanette and Eleanor. They looked ashamed. Especially Eleanor, since she knows now she just lost Brittany's trust. Brittany's face turned red in embarrassment, and in anger. She slammed her backpack on the floor, ran upstairs, and slammed the door behind her, while Miss Miller went after her.

"Brittany?!" Miss Miller called out, as she went up the stairs. "Brittany, talk to me!"

Eleanor wiped tears from her eyes as well. "Brittany's going to kill me."

"Brittany's going to kill us." Jeanette said, with a sniff.

"But we had to..." Eleanor said, "it was for her own good." 


	4. The Shadow of LA

My Lips are Sealed - Chapter Four "The Shadow of L.A."

Miss Miller walked upstairs, and tried to open to door to the chipettes' bedroom, so she knocked on it.

"Brittany!" Miss Miller called out, still knocking. "Brittany, please open this door!"

"No!" Brittany screamed from inside.

"Open this door, Brittany, please!" Miss Miller called.

"No!" Brittany screamed. "Leave me alone!"

"We need to talk, Brittany, let me in!"

"Leave me alone!"

Miss Miller sighed, but she stood on her tip-toes, grabbed the little key on the top of the doorframe, and managed to unlock the door herself, and step inside. Brittany was lying on top of her bed, face down on her pillow, with the hood of her hoodie covering the back of her head. Brittany couldn't stop crying, meanwhile, Miss Miller was still upset over everything herself. Miss Miller walked over to Brittany's bed, and sat on the foot of it.

"Why didn't you tell me what happened, Brittany?" Miss Miller asked.

Brittany answered the question, but because her face was buried into her pillow, and crying at the same time, Miss Miller couldn't understand a word she was saying.

"Say what, now?" Miss Miller asked.

Brittany didn't respond. She didn't want to talk about it. Miss Miller reached over, pulled the hood away from Brittany's head, and began to gently caress the back of Brittany's head.

"My poor angel..." Miss Miller said with her choked up voice.

Brittany got up from where she was lying, so she could seek more comfort from Miss Miller. Brittany sat close next to Miss Miller, while Miss Miller wrapped her arms around Brittany, scooping her up, and cradling her in her arms.

"Brittany," Miss Miller continued, "why didn't you tell me the truth? Why did you try to hide this from me?"

Brittany sniffed. "I just didn't want you to have to find out that I had been... been..." Brittany lost her voice when she finished her sentence with "raped".

"Didn't you think I would've found out, eventually?" Miss Miller asked, trying to keep her voice calm, hoping to calm Brittany down as well.

"I was trying so hard to keep it a secret..." Brittany admitted, "I just didn't want you to have to find out..."

"Well, I know now..." Miss Miller said.

"What are you going to do, Miss Miller?" Brittany asked.

Miss Miller sighed, sadly. "I don't really know, Brittany... but I do know one thing, I'm not going to let that hooligan get away with what he did to you, that I can promise you. Nobody, but nobody, is going to hurt my girls, thinking he's going to get away with it."

Miss Miller carried Brittany into the bathroom, wanting to examine the rest of the bruises Brittany was trying to hide. She saw the few bruises across her chest, a couple on her stomach, and a few more on her thighs, and down her shins. Even a large bruise on her back. Not knowing what else to do, Miss Miller fixed Brittany a hot, bubblebath, and let Brittany soak for about an hour. When Brittany was done, and back in her little, pink housecoat, she walked back into her room, and saw Eleanor standing by her bed. Brittany's eyebrows turned down, as she glared at Eleanor with a sour face.

"I'm sorry, Brittany..." Eleanor said, "but I had to..."

"You told them!" Brittany screamed. "You told Jeanette and Miss Miller!"

"Jeanette overheard the conversation, but she and I agreed we had to tell Miss Miller... it was for your own good, Brittany, you needed help!"

Brittany walked up to Eleanor, and stared her down, dead in the eye.

"Get out of my room." Brittany said through her teeth.

Eleanor didn't respond. She didn't know what more to say.

"If I have to look at that backstabbing, idiotic, ugly, fat face of yours one more time, I'm not going to be very pleasant to be around... now get out of my room!" Brittany yelled.

A tear came to Eleanor's eye.

"Now!!!" Brittany screamed, as Eleanor dashed for the door. "And the same goes for your nerdy, little henchman as well!" Brittany screamed, as she slammed the door.

At the Sevilles', Dave walked towards the bottom of the staircase, and called for Alvin. Alvin came trudging downstairs.

"Yes, David?" Alvin replied, in a smart tone.

"Alvin, I just got off the phone with Miss Miller," Dave told Alvin, "apparently... I... punished you under false pretenses... I would like to say I'm sorry."

"Really?" Alvin asked.

"Yes," Dave responded, "Miss Miller explained to me that Brittany said what she did to cover up the truth of what really happened to her. While I'll admit, I was still a little leery of your trust, I was wrong to punish you for something you didn't do. I'm sorry."

Alvin nodded. "It's okay, Dave, I'm used to you punishing me all the time anyway."

Dave smirked, as he turned to leave.

"So..." Alvin said, "what exactly did happen to Brittany?" Alvin asked, wanting to know if Brittany actually told Miss Miller, and if Miss Miller told Dave.

Dave paused for a minute, and hesitated to answer Alvin's question. "Well..." Dave began, as he walked back over to the stairs, and lowered his voice, "somebody raped her."

"Somebody raped Brittany?!" Alvin acted like he was surprised to hear that.

"Yeah..." Dave said, feeling bad for her.

"Who would do that to Brittany?" Alvin asked.

"I don't know... and Miss Miller didn't say..." Dave said, as he headed for the kitchen, "but I sure do hope they catch him, and he receives the punishment he deserves for ruining Brittany's childhood."

"Yeah... me too..." Alvin said, in a very determined voice.

Back at the Millers', Jeanette was sitting on the couch, in the den, while Eleanor walked, and sat next to her older sister.

"Well?" Jeanette asked.

"Brittany is so mad at us..." Eleanor said. "At me."

"You did the right thing, Eleanor." Jeanette said.

"Then why do I feel so rotten?" Eleanor asked.

"Because this isn't what Brittany wanted," Jeanette told her, "but she needed help."

"We better steer clear of Brittany for a while." Eleanor said.

At that moment, Brittany walked through the hallway, heading for the kitchen. She stopped at entrance of the den, eyeballing Jeanette and Eleanor. Jeanette and Eleanor looked at Brittany. Brittany's face was so blank, they couldn't tell whether she was still angry at them, or if she was simply emotionally drained from the trauma. They all stared at each other for a little bit, before Brittany finally went into the kitchen. Jeanette and Eleanor exchanged looks with each other. They didn't even bother to go to bed that night. They didn't want to have to put up with an angry Brittany throwing things at them all night long, so they both slept together on the couch. If Brittany felt terrible when she went to bed, she would feel even worse the next morning. When Miss Miller picked up the paper, there it was, in the local section of the paper. "Teenager Wanted For Rape". It was based on the report Miss Miller had filed the night before about what happened to Brittany. The article went into detail of how the teenager is responisble for assaulting, threatening, and raping eight-year-old, Brittany Miller, what he looks like, when he was last seen, and other details of his activities provided by other people who have complained about him harassing homeless people, and snatching purses from old ladies. The police department have no record of him, so they only know by the title they've given him of "The Shadow of L.A.", referring to how elusive he is, and usually seeks refuge in dark alleys. The morning news on television also mentioned the story of the punk having raped Brittany. Brittany felt so sick, that she refused to get out of bed. Miss Miller decided to keep Brittany home from school, but Jeanette and Eleanor got ready themselves. Brittany pulled the covers over her head when he sisters walked into the room to grab their books and backpacks. She didn't want to see them. She felt betrayed by them. Newspaper, news on TV, everyone now knows what happened to Brittany, and she was humilated. It was all Jeanette and Eleanor's fault, as far as she was concerned. Moments later, when the kids arrived at school, even the teacher was concerned about Brittany's welfare.

"How is Brittany doing?" She asked Jeanette and Eleanor, as they entered the classroom.

"Terrible." Jeanette said.

"Yeah," Eleanor agreed, "she's just so upset that everyone knows what happened to her... and well, it's kind of our fault word got out."

"Yeah, she didn't want anyone to know." Jeanette said.

"You girls did the right thing." The teacher told them.

Moments later, when the first bell rang, alerting all kids to be in their classroom, the morning carried on as usual. The morning announcements were made over the speaker, the Pledge of Alligence was recited, and so on, and so forth. But things were different in class this morning.

"Class?" The teacher addressed the students. "I would like to call your attention to something today... I suppose you've noticed that Brittany Miller isn't here today."

Some kids looked over at Brittany's desk, seeing she wasn't sitting there.

"Does anyone know why?" The teacher asked.

One kid raised his hand.

"Billy?" The teacher called on the student.

"She's playing hockey?" Billy asked.

"I believe you mean hooky, Billy," the teacher corrected him, "and no, that isn't it."

Another student raised her hand.

"Yes, Caroline?" The teacher called on the other student.

"I heard that somebody hurt her." Caroline said.

The teacher nodded her head. "Yes, somebody hurt her. Very badly. I'm sure Brittany could use some words of comfort and encouragement at this time, so, I would like for the whole class to work on a get well project for her... maybe like a get well poster for all of you to sign or something, and her sisters can take it home to her."

All the kids in class agreed that would be the best thing to do, so pretty soon, all the desks were pushed to the side, leaving a large, open area on the floor in the middle of the classroom. The teacher brought out a piece of white posterboard, while all the kids grabbed their crayons, pencil crayons, magic markers, and other art supplies to work on a get well poster for Brittany. Back home, Brittany laid in her bed, silently crying, when Miss Miller walked in to check how she was doing.

"Brittany?" Miss Miller asked, softly. "How are you doing, darling?"

"Miss Miller?" Brittany asked.

"Yes?" Miss Miller responded.

"Will you please kill me?" Brittany asked.

"Brittany!" Miss Miller said, aghast.

"I don't want to live anymore," Brittany cried, "I don't deserve to live anymore... please, go ahead and kill me!"

"Brittany Miller, do you hear yourself?"

Brittany wiped the tears away from her red eyes, and looked up at Miss Miller.

"I know you're upset, darling, but that's no reason to throw your own life away for." Miss Miller said. "Things are going to get better, Brittany, I promise you. You have your whole life ahead of you."

Brittany wiped her eyes, and sadly sighed, while Miss Miller leaned in, and kissed her on the forehead.

"Would you like to come down in the den, and watch you some of your DVDs?" Miss Miller asked.

"Yeah..." Brittany mumbled.

Shortly thereafter, Miss Miller had the couch fixed up like a little bed for Brittany, while she watched "Kangaroo Jack". Brittany cringed during the scene in which Charlie groped Jessie's chest, thinking she's a mirage. It brought back painful memories of "The Shadow of L.A." rubbing his hands all over Brittany's little, flat chest. The afternoon passed slowly for Brittany, but she simply couldn't care less. Her class at school finished a cute get well poster for her. Her classmates all worked together to draw a picture of themselves tossing Brittany into the air in a celebratory fashion, with a caption reading "Get well, Brittany, we love you!" Each student in the class drew themselves in the crowd, and signed the poster for Brittany. Except Jeanette and Eleanor. They already ruined her life even further, they felt there was no reason for them to ruin her poster. After school ended, Jeanette and Eleanor carried the poster out of the building with them, but were stopped by Jamiela.

"Jeanette! Eleanor!" Jamiela called out.

"Oh, hi, Jamiela." Eleanor said.

"I heard on the news this morning about Brittany!" Jamiela said. "I can't believe it!"

"It is pretty unbelievable." Jeanette said.

"How's she doing?" Jamiela asked.

"Terrible." Eleanor said.

"Oh... well, tell her I'll call her tonight to check in with her!" Jamiela said.

"Okay." Jeanette responded.

"You want to sign her poster?" Eleanor asked, showing Jamiela the card her class made for Brittany.

"Oh, sure!" Jamiela said, as she pulled her neon purple gel pen out of her pocket, and signed the poster.

Later still, Jeanette and Eleanor arrived home.

"Welcome home, girls." Miss Miller greeted them.

"The whole class made this poster for Brittany." Eleanor said, showering it to Miss Miller.

"Aw, isn't this nice?" Miss Miller said, looking over the poster.

"Would you give it to her?" Jeanette asked.

"Sure." Miss Miller said, as she walked into the den, where Brittany had fallen asleep.

Miss Miller sat the card on the coffee table, before walking over to Brittany, pulling the blanket up, around her neck, and kissing her on the top of her head. Simon and Theodore made it home shortly later, and were met with Dave.

"Hey, fellas." Dave said.

"Hi, Dave." Simon and Theodore responded.

"Theodore," Dave began, "I thought it would be a nice gesture if you baked something a little special for Brittany, during her little... situation..."

"I think I will." Theodore agreed.

"Um... where's Alvin?" Dave asked.

Simon and Theodore paused with looks of confusion on their faces, turned around to see that Alvin wasn't there.

"He... he was right behind us when we left school..." Simon said.

Where was Alvin? He actually took off for the alley Brittany told him the punk attacked her. Remembering what Brittany said, Alvin walked down the alley, to the tenament door, where she said the punk dragged her inside to rape her. Alvin creaked the door open, and entered the trashed out apartment, finding absolutely no one inside, which is what Alvin feared. Dave had read in the paper about how elusive the described punk is, and now that word is out about where Brittany was raped, he probably fled. Alvin was determined. Alvin was determined to find the punk who ruined Brittany's life, and call him out himself. Even if it gets him into trouble.


	5. Search and Destroy

My Lips are Seeled - Chapter Five "Search and Destroy"

Jeanette and Eleanor took advantage of Brittany having fallen asleep in the den, and went upstairs to their room. They dropped their backpacks, and began grabbing various little personal items from their sides of the room.

"How sad is this?" Eleanor asked.

"Hmm?" Jeanette responded.

"How sad is this, that we're having to virtually move out of our own room?" Eleanor asked.

Jeanette sighed. "I wish Brittany could be happy that we were just trying to help her. We love her, she's our sister."

Shortly later, Jeanette and Eleanor were heading down the hallway, with their personal items in hand, when Miss Miller walked upstairs, and saw what they were doing.

"What are you two up to?" Miss Miller asked them.

"Just moving to the attic." Jeanette said, casually.

"The attic?!" Miss Miller asked.

"So Brittany doesn't have to be bothered by us anymore." Eleanor added.

Miss Miller was puzzled. "Better fill me in, girls."

"Brittany's mad at us for telling you about what happened." Jeanette admitted.

"Yeah," Eleanor added, "she told me not to tell anyone... but Jeanette and me both knew that you, of all people, had to know the truth."

"Brittany didn't want anyone to know the truth," Jeanette continued, "and now that everyone knows what happened to her... she's more upset now than she was before... and it's all our fault."

"We're just trying to help Brittany," Eleanor added, "right now, she just... she wants us out of her life right now, so we're just granting her wish by moving out of our room, and into the attic... until she's ready to see us again..."

Miss Miller sighed, as she knelt down before her daughters. "Look girls, I know Brittany's upset. I know she didn't want anyone to know what happened to her. And I know that she didn't want you to tell me. But removing yourselves from her life at this point isn't going to make things better... it's going to make things worse."

Jeanette and Eleanor glanced at each other.

"How do you figure, Miss Miller?" Jeanette asked.

"During this difficult time for Brittany, the thing that she needs the most of right now, is to be surrounded by the ones that she loves." Miss Miller told them.

"But, Brittany doesn't want to be surrounded by us right now." Eleanor reminded Miss Miller.

"She's upset," Miss Miller reminded them, "she's going to say things she doesn't mean, but I'm telling you what's the truth, Brittany needs you girls right now."

Jeanette and Eleanor glanced at each other, once more.

"Now, what say we just take this stuff back into your bedroom?" Miss Miller asked, as she began grabbing the girls' belongings, and taking them back into their bedroom.

Downstairs, Brittany awoke from her nap, rolled over on the couch, and saw the poster lying on the coffee table. She grabbed it, and began to examine it. She saw her classmates, all throwing her into the air, as if they were shouting 'hip, hip, horray' for her. She read the big, multi-colored letters that made up "Get well soon, Brittany, we love you", as well as all the little notes of encouragement from her classmates, that were scattered through-out the poster. Brittany started crying again. But she was crying because the poster touched her so much. She was expecting her peers to raz her about what she went through, but was wrong. So very wrong. They knew she was hurting. They knew she was in pain. They knew that somebody did something ugly, and unclean to her. They wanted to let Brittany know that they're behind her during her time of darkness. Jeanette and Eleanor watched from the den entrance, but they were both too nervous to try to talk to Brittany.

"Come on..." Eleanor said, taking Jeanette by the hand.

A few minutes later, Jeanette and Eleanor were walking down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand, not really knowing where they were going to go. They weren't running away from home, but they did need to talk a walk, get some fresh air, and try to clear their minds.

"Well, at least Brittany saw her card." Jeanette said.

"Yeah, I can't tell though if it helped her, or not." Eleanor replied.

"I guess we'll find out one day." Jeanette said. "Ellie?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know... just out for a walk, really."

"Yeah..."

"I'm sure he probably stuck around after the bell to shoot some hoops with his friends." Simon said, regarding Alvin's sudden disappearance.

"Yeah, Alvin's been practicing a lot lately," Theodore added, "he really wants to make the team, this year."

"Well, I just wish he would have said something to me, first." Dave said.

"I'll go make those cupcakes for Brittany." Theodore said, as he made his way for the kitchen.

"I probably better whip up something special for Brittany, as well." Simon said, before heading upstairs.

Miss Miller walked into the den, to find Brittany was awake, and had seen her poster.

"Your class did that for you, when they heard about your incident." Miss Miller said.

"I never expected anything like this." Brittany said, with a sniff. "I thought they'd give me the business about what happened to me..."

"Why would they do that, Brittany?" Miss Miller asked, as she sat next to Brittany, on the couch. "These aren't just your classmates, Brittany... they're your friends... they hate what that scaliwag did to you, and they want you to know that they care about you, and want you to get better, soon."

Brittany leaned against Miss Miller, while she wrapped her arm around Brittany.

"I called your guidance councellor at school, today," Miss Miller told Brittany, "as soon as you're ready, she's going to see you after school everyday, to help you with your situation. Okay?"

Brittany wiped her eyes, and nose. "Okay."

"How are you feeling, right now?"

Brittany sighed. "I feel a little better, seeing this card..."

"Well, that's good to hear. What would you like for dinner, tonight?"

Alvin stood before the entrance of another alley, downtown, still on the look for the one who hurt the girl he secretly admired. Alvin marched down the alley, looking both ways, and over his shoulder the whole time, keeping his eyes open for anything. Alvin kept walking, and came up to a door in the wall, with a sign on it that read "Employees Only". Curious, Alvin cracked the door open, and peered inside. It looked like he was in some kind of supply room. There were shelves, upon shelves, upon shelves of all kinds of assorted junk, ranging from pots, and pans, to broke lamps, to extension cords. Alvin looked to the left, and found another door, which he was ready to see what was behind it. He walked over, but was taken by surprise when he heard a click. He looked down, and saw the doorknob turning. He slowly stepped away from the door, as it opened, and a middle-aged, unshaven man flipped on the light. He saw Alvin.

"Hey, kid!" The man asked. "How'd you get in here?!"

"Never mind that," Alvin said, "who are you?"

"Ted, I run this repair shop!" The man said to Alvin, as Alvin looked around once more, seeing that the items on the shelves were pretty much all in a state of disrepair.

"Oh." Alvin said innocently. "Well, then, I must be going now..."

Alvin casually walked out the door, which he came in, and back down the alley, as the repairman locked the door behind him, but not before mumbling "Darn kid." Alvin made it to the other end of the alley, and was back on city streets. Looking both ways, Alvin couldn't make up his mind as to whether to head left, right, or cross the street. When he heard what sounding like a bunch of guys partying to his left, Alvin went that way to see what was going on. A block away, he could see what looked like a few boys, all taller, and older, than he is, running out of the electronics shop, with armfuls of stolen merchandise. Alvin made his way over to the shop, and stepped inside, where he found the young, terrifyed cashier on the phone with the police department.

"I mean, without warning, these punks just charged into the store, and started grabbing anything they could!" She said into the phone. "Yeah, I think so... one of them had his hand in his pocket, pointing something at other employees... but it could've been just his finger... no, I never saw them before in my life..."

Alvin looked around the ruined store, completely surprised by all of the damage that had been done by those kids. For some reason, though, something told Alvin he should try to follow those kids who ransacked the store. So saying, Alvin did just that, he walked out of the store, and down the direction he remembered the thieves taking off in. Back home, Brittany kept reading all of the little notes of encouragement, that were scattered all over her poster. Miss Miller walked into the den.

"Dinner's ready, Brittany." She said.

"Okay." Brittany said, as she slipped off the couch, stretching like there was no tomorrow, before walking into the kitchen.

Miss Miller went to the foot of the stairs.

"Jeanette! Eleanor!" She called. "Dinner!"

Miss Miller walked back into the kitchen, just as Brittany took her seat at the table. Miss Miller poured the girls each a glass of milk, while she grabbed a glass of tea herself. Miss Miller then took her place at the table.

"So..." Miss Miller began, "think you'll be able to go to school, tomorrow?"

Brittany shrugged. "Maybe..."

"Not sure?" Miss Miller asked.

"Not really..." Brittany said.

"Well, we'll see how you're doing in the morning." Miss Miller said. "Now, where are those two?" Miss Miller got up from the table, and walked to the foot of the stairs again. "Jeanette! Eleanor! Dinner's ready!" Miss Miller waited for some kind or response, but when she didn't hear any, she ascended the stairs. She walked into the girls'room, but saw no signs of Jeanette and Eleanor. Miss Miller shook her head. "Oh, those two..." That's when Miss Miller walked up into the attic, expecting to find Jeanette and Eleanor hiding out up there. Miss Miller flipped on the lights, and looked around the attic, trying spot her daughters. "Jeanette? Eleanor? Are you girls up here?" No response. "Jeanette? Eleanor?"

Down in the kitchen, Brittany sat, waiting, at the dining table, waiting for Miss Miller to come back with her sisters, instead, only Miss Miller walked back into the room.

"Brittany, have you see your sisters?" Miss Miller asked.

"No." Brittany responded.

Miss Miller sighed. "I better call them, find out where they're at..." Miss Miller made her way to the refrigerator, where she had a post-it note with the girls' cellphone numbers on it. Before she made it, however, there was a knock at the front door, Miss Miller was assuming it was the girls, and they somehow got locked out. Miss Miller answered the door, but was met with Theodore, with a large tray of chocolate cupcakes.

"Hi, Miss Miller," Theodore said, "I made some cupcakes for Brittany."

Miss Miller smiled. "Come in, dear, come in..."

Theodore walked into the house, as Miss Miller led him into the kitchen.

"I made you some cupcakes, Brittany." Theodore said.

Brittany turned around, and saw Theodore, presenting her with the large tray of cupcakes. "Chocolate?"

Theodore nodded.

"My favorite." Brittany said, as she reached for a cupcake.

"Uh-uh-uh," Miss Miller said, "don't spoil your dinner, Brittany."

"Oh..." Brittany responded sadly.

"Bring them over here, Theodore..." Miss Miller cleared away a spot on the counter for Theodore to place his cupcakes.

"This certainly was nice of you, Theodore." Miss Miller told Theodore, before she glanced at Brittany. "What do you say, Brittany?"

"Thank you, Theodore." Brittany said.

"You're welcome!" Theodore squealed, as he walked over to Brittany, and embraced her. "I hope you feel better soon."

Brittany wrapped her arms around Theodore. "Thanks, Theodore..." she responded, on the verge of tears.

Theodore returned home. "I think she's going to like them!"

"I'm sure she will." Dave said, as he got the dinner table ready.

"Alvin still not back yet?" Theodore asked.

"No, and he should be," Dave said, looking at his watch, "it's almost six o'clock..."

Alvin was lost. He tried to follow the kids who trashed and robbed the eletronics store, but he didn't really know which ways they could've gone. Now, he was lost, downtown, and wasn't sure where to go. Alvin kept walking, though. Still determined to find the punk who ruined Brittany's life. Alvin kept walking for a few more blocks, not realizing that the further he walked, the closer he was coming to the outskirts of town. It wasn't before too awful long, Alvin found himself in the forgotten part of the city. It was known as the forgotten part, because all of the buildings, shops, offices, and other places in this area were completely abandoned. Some were even boarded up, and quite a few had condemned signs on their doors. The street was a mess of over-turned trashcans, and litter, and debris. Alvin felt his heart sink into his stomach. He was aware of some of the urban legends that surrounded this ghastly-looking location, but with a loud gulp, Alvin pressed onward.

"If I were a street punk..." Alvin mused, to himself, "this is exactly the kind of place I'd hide..."

Alvin kept walking, until his footsteps grew louder, and louder. They weren't his. He stopped, but the sounds of footsteps kept growing louder, and louder. Alvin looked all around him, but didn't see anyone approaching him. Still, the footsteps grew louder, and louder. Alvin could almost detect some kind of clank with every other step. Alvin spotted a large, wooden crate behind him, so he quickly ducked into, and spied through the spaces in the slats. After a few minutes, he saw a pair of feet walk by. The feet had rather large shoes on them, and black jeans that were bagging up around the ankles, almost as if whoever was wearing them was wearing them well below the waistline. Still, Alvin heard another set a footsteps, and this was the one with the clank at every other step. Alvin saw another pair of feet walk by. This pair was different. While one foot had a distressed, Nike shoe on, the other had some kind of unusual looking shoe. This shoe was making the clanking sound Alvin heard. It was a lot taller than the other shoe, and whoever owned the shoes, seemed to have trouble walking on that particular leg. Alvin waited for a few seconds, until he was assured that the two thugs had a head start before he stealthfully followed them. Meanwhile, Jeanette and Eleanor were heading back into their neighborhood.

"It's getting dark out..." Jeanette said.

"Yeah, good thing we're almost home." Eleanor responded.

Jeanette and Eleanor had to cross the street, in order to get to the street where their house sat. They crossed, but Eleanor suddenly stepped into a narrow pothole in the street. Her foot was stuck. Eleanor gasped a little.

"What happened?" Jeanette asked.

"I think I twisted my ankle..." Eleanor said, as she tried to pull her foot loose, "and it's stuck! Give me a hand, here..."

Jeanette walked back over to Eleanor, and grabbed her ankle, but when she did, Eleanor screamed.

"Sorry!" Jeanette said, realizing that Eleanor did, indeed, twist her ankle.

"I still can't get it out!" Eleanor said. "It's stuck, tight!"

"Hold still for a second..." Jeanette ran over to a nearby tree, grabbed a thin, but strong branch that was lying below it. She ran back over to Eleanor, and slid the branch down into the hole, and under Eleanor's foot, trying to pry it loose, while Eleanor kept pulling at her foot.

"No good!" Eleanor said.

She was right, because Jeanette's stick snapped. "Wait a minute..." Jeanette said, with another idea in mind. She easily unbuckled Eleanor's little shoe, and helped her slip her foot out of it. When that was said and done, since the shoe now had no shape to it, it could easily be pulled out of the hole. "There we go!"

"Thanks, Jeanette." Eleanor said, as she struggled to slip her shoe back on.

Jeanette's cellphone rang, and when she pulled it out of her pocket, she saw that it was her home phone number calling it. Jeanette flipped the phone open to answer. "Hello?"

"Look out!" Eleanor screamed, as Jeanette turned around to see a flash of light come at her with lightning speed, before everything went black. 


	6. Pain and Suffering

My Lips are Sealed - Chapter Six "Pain and Suffering"

Dave, Simon, and Theodore were halfway finished with their dinner, when Dave looked at his watch again. It was six-forty-six. Where in the world was Alvin?

"If Alvin isn't home by seven," Dave told the boys, "I'm going to call the police!"

"You know, Dave," Simon said, "perhaps it might be a wise decision to let Alvin have a cellphone, after all."

"No way, it's out of the question." Dave said. "The last thing I need is Alvin running up a huge bill, with a bunch of senseless instant text messaging!"

"But, Dave," Theodore said, with his mouth full, "what if there was an emergency? Like now?"

Dave sighed. "That's a different story," Dave admitted, "and it would be nice to be able to have some to get in contact with him, and find out where on earth that boy is..."

Alvin continued to follow a pair of suspicious-looking guys in the area known as the forgotten part of town. If Alvin didn't know any better, he'd think they were a couple of gang-bangers. They were.

"You think Tone'll be there?" The shorter of the two asked.

The other, taller gang-banger with the gimp leg was a guy of few words. He simply nodded.

Alvin continued to follow them. For some reason, he had the feelings that these two might lead him to something important. After a few minutes of walking, the two stopped. The taller punk slowly turned around to see if anyone was falling them.

"Someone there, Mutey?" The shorter punk asked.

The mute punk nodded. There wasn't a soul behind them, but he knew someone was following them. He could sense it. The trashcan that they just passed was on its side, but now, was completely upside down. The mute punk hobbled over to it, and kicked it, as hard as he could, with his big, metal shoe. Nothing. He turned back to his original direction, and pressed on, followed by his shorter accomplise. Alvin was hiding behind a divider wall, in front of an abandoned, brownstone, apartment building. He had turned over the trashcan to throw the punks off, which seemed to work. Alvin waited for a few seconds, before carefully removing his shoes, so his feet wouldn't make as much noise, when he follows behind them. Alvin hopped over the divider wall, and resumed his pursuit. After a few more minutes, the two turned down an alley, inbetween what used to be a bakery, and what used to be a hardware shop. Alvin, hesitantly, crept up to the entrance of the alley, unsure of what to expect. Would this be an opportunity for him to spy on what could be a gang meeting? Or could the two be on to him, and be leading him into a trap? Alvin suddenly had a mental image of Brittany. How pitiful she looked. How hopeless she looked. The pain in her eyes, among the bruises on her face. The reminder of what happened to Brittany, and how upset she was about it made Alvin angry again. With his anger rising, and the tension of what he was doing at the moment, Alvin's adrenilin was racing. He stormed down the alley way, and came up to the side door of the former bakery, where he saw the two punks enter. Alvin cracked the door, making sure the coast was clear, before he entered himself. It looked like he was in some kind of old office. Two more doors he found, one in front of him, and one to his left. Alvin tried to the door to his left, first. He saw it was where the customers used come in for their products. Alvin then tried the other door, which led to what used to be the kitchen. Inside, the two punks he was following were met with about four, or five other gang-bangers, who greeted the two with the hand signal of a thumb up, a neutral thumb, a thumb down, another thumb up, a thumb back, and the extension of the index finger. The room was poorly lit, so Alvin went un-noticed in the shadows of the room, but he knew he needed better cover, just in case they spotted him. Alvin tip-toed over to the cabinets, under the sink, ignoring the cockroaches, and silverfish, that crawled with inside. He kept the cabinet doors cracked, so he could spy on them. The gang walked over to a large table they had set up, in the middle of the old kitchen, to which, the other punks rested some burlap sacks on. The mute punk, whom Alvin suspected was the ring-leader, removed the contents of the bags, which turned out to be the stolen items from the electronics store. The mute punk smiled, but then smirked. The others knew that sign. It was how he expressed "good, but not enough". Mutey snapped his finger, as the shorter punk he was with, who went by the street name, Slinko, pulled out a blueprint from his pants. He unrolled it on the table.

"This is the silver tuna, Mutey wants to case tonight..." Slinko, who went over the blueprint for a music store. "The new shipment of goods should be delivered to storage room just before closing time... hopefully we can find us something nice to replace this old shit we have in here..." Slinko pulled out a small remote, turning on a stolen stereo system, up against the back wall, as hard core rap blared in the room.

Shortly later, the gang paused, and all looked towards the door. Alvin couldn't see what they were doing, but once they gave off their hand signal, he knew that another member of the gang had arrived.

"Any leads?" Slinko asked the punk, entering the room.

"Nah," the punk said, as he casually strolled up to the table, "the city is afraid of it's own shadow."

Alvin squinted his eyes. He wish he could get a better look of this guy, but since he had his back towards Alvin's hiding place, he couldn't see very well. That was, until, the punk started walking around the table.

"So, how'd you pull it off, Tone?" Another punk, named Tox, short for Toxic, asked.

"Pretty easy," Tone said, continuing his circle around the table, "another case of the wrong place, at the wrong time..." Tone made it behind the table, "... but at least I got some pleasure out of it" Tone said with a guffaw.

Alvin finally got a glimpse of the recently-arrived person's face.

"Dude," another punk, known as Chunky Monkey, called out, "what was she like, homey?"

"She was dynamite," Tone said, removing his hood, revealing the rest of his head, "you heard the news, she was like, what, eight? But man, she was a hottie!"

Alvin tried to remember all that Brittany said about the punk who raped her. Brittany said the punk who raped her was tall, and thin. Tone was tall, and thin. Brittany said the punk who raped her had greasy, long, black hair. Tone had greasy, long, black hair. Brittany said the punk who raped her was wearing a black t-shirt with a skull on it. Alvin had a hard time telling, since Tone was wearing a white hoodie, but it was only zipped half-way. Alvin looked carefully, Tone appeared to be wearing a black shirt underneath, and when he leaned forward, over the table, Alvin could see some kind of pale-colored round edge. Like the top of a skull perhaps? Alvin knew it. He felt his stomach ache. He felt his heart ache. Her could feel Brittany's pain, and dispair. Tone was the punk who raped Brittany. Mutey then placed his hand on Tone's shoulder, and with a sick smile, gave him a nod.

"Whoa, looks like somebody's going to be moving up in the association before very long." Slinko hinted.

Alvin was so enraged over this. How could these guys have such a good time over robbing a little girl of her childhood?

"Dude, I just had a thought," Chunky Monkey spoke up, "if this girl's dynamite, like you says she is, what say we try to bring her down to our little... fun house... and we can all get a taste of the action, huh?"

The others began laughing. Was Alvin hearing correctly? Did these guys just contemplate trying to abduct Brittany, so they could all gang-rape her? Alvin had it. Brittany's life was already ruined by one punk, he wasn't about to let an entire gang harm her any further. Without realizing it, Alvin shot out of the cabinet he was hiding in, like a lion being released from its cage.

"You guys so much as give Brittany one look, you all got another thing coming!" The rageful Alvin screamed.

The gang paused.

"What the hell..." Slinko mumbled.

Eleanor slowly opened her eyes, when she heard a masculine voice say 'oh my God, are you two alright?!" Eleanor was awake, but was in such a daze, she didn't know what was going on. If she did, she would've note that an unconscious Jeanette lay on top of her, the front of her head split, and bleeding badly. Eleanor wasn't standing too close behind Jeanette, but the force of the pickup truck striking Jeanette was strong enough to take Eleanor down as well when Jeanette went down.

"I'm calling for an ambulance right now!" The owner of the pickup said, as he frantically dug through his pockets to find his cellphone.

"Hello?" Miss Miller said, into the phone. "Hello? Jeanette? Are you there? Jeanette?" Miss Miller hung up. "Strange..."

"What?" Brittany asked, still waiting at the dinner table.

"Jeanette answered her phone," Miss Miller began, "but now, all I get is a busy signal..."

Miss Miller paused to ponder, when the silence was broken by a blaring siren, zooming down their street outside, followed by a loud screech. Miss Miller, curiously, opened the front door, and saw an ambulance at the end of the street. Brittany poked her head out as well.

"What's going on?" Brittany asked.

"I don't know..." Miss Miller said, as she headed for the end of the street to see for herself.

Brittany followed closely behind. They saw a couple of paramedic hopping out of the driver and passenger side of the ambulance, while two more rushed out of the back with a couple of stretchers.

"I've got a pulse!" One paramedic said, as he leaned over the bodies on the road. "They're still alive!"

"Let's get them to the hospital, stat!" Another paramedic responded.

Miss Miller and Brittany saw two bodies being placed on the stretchers, but once they got close enough to see what happened, both of their hearts skipped a beat.

"Jeanette! Eleanor!" Miss Miller cried out.

"Oh my God!" Brittany cried.

The two rushed over to the paramedics, as Jeanette and Eleanor were loaded into the back of the ambulance.

"What happened to my girls?!" Miss Miller cried, hysterically. "What happened?!"

"Calm down, ma'am," one of the paramedics tried to calm Miss Miller down, while began to clean the wound on Jeanette's head. "It seems the girls were hit by this gentleman's pickup truck, we're not exactly sure how, or why it happened, but we've got to get them to the hospital as quickly as possible."

"We'll be down shortly!" Miss Miller said, as she grabbed Brittany's hand, and raced back for home to jump in her car, and follow the ambulance to the hospital.

No sooner did Miss Miller pull out of her driveway with Brittany, did a squad car pull into the neighborhood, and stopped at the Seville house. Moments later, Dave was describing Alvin to the police.

"I'm sure you might have seen him before," Dave said, going through photos of Alvin, "he is Alvin, after all..."

"About how long has he been missing?" One officer asked.

"Well... I believe Simon said the last they saw him was when school ended," Dave explained, "he said he was right behind them on their way home, but when they got home, he wasn't anywhere to be found."

"Has he ever been in situations like this before?" Another office asked.

"Well..." Dave mumbled. "Let me put it this way... Alvin's not really a bad boy... he's just... um... a glutton for punishment?"

The two officers exchanged looks.

"I mean, to answer your question," Dave continued, "if they were to ever write a book about the escapades Alvin gets himself into, it would be a never-ending story."

"Right..." one of the officers mumbled.

"Are there any places your Alvin likes to hang out at, to help us find him?" The other officer asked.

"Well, let's see..." Dave began to ponder, "the mall... the basketball court... the soccer field... the ice cream shop... the toy store..."

"That's good for starters." Said the officer, taking notes.

"Don't worry about a thing, Mr. Seville," the other officer assured Dave, "we'll find Alvin."

"Please let me know something the minute you find him!" Dave said, frantically.

The gang slowly walked away from their table, and over to Alvin, who realized he just made a big mistake by abandoning his hiding spot. Sweat formed around Alvin's head, as he found himself surrounded by the gang-bangers.

"Where the fuck you come from, man?" Slinko asked.

"Now, now, boys..." Alvin said, nervously, "you wouldn't want to inflict pain on one of your own..."

Mutey raised an eyebrow.

"One of our own?" Slinko asked.

Alvin nodded.

"You saying you a member of our little association here?" Tox asked.

Alvin nodded. The gang all began laughing hysterically. Alvin suddenly saw that there was nothing he could do. He got the idea in his mind that all he had to do was find the creep who raped Brittany, and have him pay for what he did, but he never thought he'd have to put up with an entire street gang. While the gang continued laughing, Alvin slipped between Tox and Chunky Monkey to leave the building, but before he was out the door, he felt someone grab the back of his turtleneck, and lift him off the ground. Mutey held the defenseless chipmunk in front of his face, while Slinko began to give him the business.

"Alright pipsqueak," Slinko said to Alvin, "if you're really one of us, let's see the sign..."

"The sign?" Alvin asked. "You wanna see the sign?"

The others nodded. Alvin hesitated to remember their high sign, but he stuck his thumb up, turned it to the side, turned it down, turned it back up, turned it to the back, and finished with the extension of the index finger. The others looked at each other with confusion. Alvin knew their sign. He must be one of them. Mutey still gave Alvin a nasty look, before sitting him on the floor.

"Hey, sorry 'bout that man..." Slinko said.

"Yeah," Tox added, "we didn't mean to rough you up, homey."

"Alright, alright," Alvin said, trying to sound tough, "let's knock off the mushy stuff here, and get right down to business!"

The others lead Alvin to the table, where he saw the blueprint they were going over.

"Here's the joint, Mutey's wanting to case tonight..." Slinko said, as he pointed to where the storage room is, "there's supposed to be a new shipment of stuff like stereos, and sound systems delivered just before closing time."

"When is closing time?" Tox asked.

"Midnight." Tone said, while Alvin death-stared him. "I've been to that place before, they've got a tight security system... there's like some kind of emergency backup fuse box in the roof, right about here."

"So we'd need someone to get in there and shut it off." Slinko deduced.

"Yeah, but there's two ways to get to it," Tone said, "the employees room has a staircase to the attic... but if we don't cut the power before we get it, we'll trip a silent alarm."

"So what's the other way?" Tox asked.

"There's a vent right here..." Tone pointed to the blueprint, "someone could climb to the fuse box that way to shut it off, but it's really small, I don't think there's anyone here small enough to do that."

Everyone then turned their heads towards Alvin.

"What's everybody looking at me for?" Alvin asked.

"You gotta do it, shorty!" Chunky Monkey said.

"Yeah man, you're the only one small enough to fit through that vent." Tox added.

"Don't worry, we'll case the joint to make sure the coast is clear before you climb up there." Slinko assured Alvin.

"Uh... yeah, sure." Alvin said.

"This place is all the way downtown," Tone said, "so we better head that way."

"Right," Alvin said, "I'll meet you guys there!" Alvin turned to leave the hideout, but was stopped.

"Meet us there?" Slinko asked. "Where are you going?"

"I'll need my special tools for this operation..." Alvin said, sheepishly.

"What special tools?" Tone asked.

"Hey man," Slinko jabbed him with his elbow, "don't question the bro's methods."

"Catch ya later!" Alvin said, as he merrily made his way out of the room.

Mutey had a smug look on his face, which didn't go un-noticed by the others. Mutey slowly began to walk out of the room, and motioned for the others to follow him. He decided they needed to keep an eye on Alvin, he didn't trust him. At the hospital, a frantic Miss Miller, and an equally frantic Brittany were waiting to hear about the condition of Jeanette and Eleanor. Finally, something was able to take Brittany's mind off of what happened to her earlier, it's just a shame that it couldn't have been something more pleasant. After a few more minutes of waiting, Eleanor finally came into the waiting room, with her head bandaged, as well as her ankle, which made her limp.

"Ellie!" Brittany cried, as she raced over to her baby sister, and embraced her, tightly. "Oh, Ellie! I thought you were dead!"

Miss Miller made her way over to Eleanor as well. "What in the world happened, Eleanor?"

"I... I have no idea..." Eleanor said, "it all happened so fast... the... the last thing I remember was Jeanette helping me get my foot out from a hole in the street... it got stuck, and I twisted it, trying to pull it out... then... then the rest is kind of hazy..."

"Where in the world have you girls been?!" Miss Miller asked. "I was worried to death about you!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Miller," Eleanor said, almost on the verge of tears, "but Jeanette and I just had to take a walk... we needed to do something to put our minds at ease... we lost track of time, and we were heading home when my foot got stuck..."

Miss Miller sighed, sadly. "At least you're okay... but how's Jeanette?"

"I don't know, I didn't see her back there." Eleanor said.

"Did they tell you somebody hit you with a truck?" Miss Miller asked.

"Yeah, they did," Eleanor said, massaging the back of her head, "but I just don't remember it happening..."

Brittany embraced Eleanor, once more. "Thank God you're still alive!"

Eleanor looked up at Miss Miller, who smiled a little. She was right. During these times, Brittany does need the ones she loves, and that includes her sisters. Eleanor wrapped her arms around her big sister as well. "I love you, Brittany."

"I love you, too!" Brittany said, crying as she did at the thought of almost losing her baby sister.

Back in the hospital, the front of Jeanette's head was stitched up, while they wrapped her head with a bandage. A needle hooked up to a container of plasma was injected into her hand, as Jeanette lost a lot of blood from her injury. Pretty soon, Jeanette had tubes coming out of her, as she lay sleeping in her bed in her room, with nurses keeping a steady watch on her at all times. Back in the waiting room, the man who owned the pickup truck that hit Jeanette and Eleanor walked in, and slowly made his way over to Miss Miller, Brittany, and Eleanor.

"Ma'am?" He said, nervously.

"Yes?" Miss Miller asked, looking up at him.

"Ma'am, I would like to take care of the expenses for you." He said.

"Excuse me?" Miss Miller asked.

"I'm responsible for your girls' accident," he admitted, "I would like to pay for their stay here, among other things... it would certainly clear my conscience..."

Miss Miller almost teared. "Well, thank you... here I was thinking there wasn't an ounce of kindness left in the world..."

"Ma'am, I give you my word, as a gentleman, if I'm responsible for something, I try to fix it," he said, "I hit your girls with my truck, I would like to pay for everything."

Miss Miller nodded with a sniff. "Thank you."

The man then looked at Eleanor. "I'm terribly sorry, young lady," he said, in a loving tone, "I never intended to hurt you, or your sister."

"Well," Eleanor said, "I don't even quite remember anything of what happened... so I really have no right to be mad at you... I can forgive, and forget."

Just then, a nurse walked into the waiting room, and asked to see Miss Miller, in private. Not necessarily about just Jeanette... but about Brittany.

"Is Jeanette going to be okay?" Miss Miller asked.

"She's conscious, thank goodness," the nurse said, "we have her in a room now, she's sleeping off the anathesia... what I was really wanted to talk to you about is Brittany.."

"What about Brittany?" Miss Miller asked.

"Well, we understand she was..." the nurse then dropped her voice to a whisper, "raped..."

Miss Miller nodded.

"We really would like to take a look at her..." the nurse said.

"Okay, I'll get her..." Miss Miller walked back into the waiting room, and took Brittany by the hand. "Come on, Brittany."

"Are we going to see Jeanette?" Brittany asked.

"No, the nurses want to see you." She said.

"Why?" Brittany asked. 


	7. Truth and Consequences

My Lips are Sealed - Chapter Seven "Truth and Consequences"

Alvin was feeling pretty confident now. He managed the earn the trust of a gang of street toughs, he knew where their hideout was, and he even was filled in on their operation of robbing a music store later tonight, after midnight. All Alvin had to do was completely ignore all the obvious questions Dave is going to be asking him when he gets home like "where in the world have you been?", "What have you been up to?", "How do you explain yourself?", and tell Dave what's going on, and have the police make all the necessary arrests tonight... but more importantly, he'll be taking Brittany's rapist out of action. Alvin got so excited about the possibility of having this guy, this terribly sick guy, known to the public as 'The Shadow of L.A.', and known to this gang as 'Tone', arrested. The thought of doing that for Brittany, for the girl he loves, made Alvin feel ten feet high. Alvin couldn't wait to get home and go over his new plan with Dave, so he slowly picked up speed, and pretty soon, was running home, as fast as he could. The gang, however, was still discretely following behind him. The ring-leader, Mutey, didn't trust Alvin. He never saw Alvin before, and found it odd that this kid, whom he never saw before, suddenly pop up at the meeting, knowing their hand signal, being filled in on the plans for the night... Mutey didn't trust Alvin at all. Dave paced back and forth in the living room, while Simon and Theodore sat on the couch, watching him.

"Um, Dave?" Theodore asked. "If you walk back and forth too much, you might wear a hole in the floor, and fall into the basement, and Simon will be very mad at you for ruining his lab!"

"Not now, Theodore..." Dave said, exasperated.

"Aren't you being just a little over-anxious about all of this, Dave?" Simon asked. "I mean, this isn't the first time Alvin's been in trouble..."

"I know," Dave said, "what worries me is when the trouble Alvin is in will be the last trouble he'll ever be in..."

"If Alvin doesn't get in trouble anymore, won't that be a good thing?" Theodore asked.

"That's not quite what I mean, Theodore..." Dave said.

"What Dave meant is that one of these days, Alvin could get into trouble that could be very costly." Simon told Theodore.

"I didn't know you had to pay to get into trouble." Theodore said.

"Theodore..." Dave said, almost to the point of pulling his hair out, "what I'm saying is I'm worried one day, Alvin could get himself seriously hurt, or even killed!"

Theodore paused. "Oh... well... that changes everything."

"Uh, Theodore..." Dave said, "why don't you go in the kitchen, and whip something up, or something."

Theodore paused again. "Dave? Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Just go!" Dave yelled, scaring Theodore into running in the kitchen.

"Uh, Dave..." Simon began.

"Now what's your complaint?!" Dave asked.

Simon took off his glasses, cleaned them a bit, before replacing them on his face. "Dave, seriously, I think for your sake, you should take a deep breath, and try to calm down... how many times has Alvin gotten out of trouble just as easily as he's gotten into trouble?"

"I realize that, Simon," Dave said, "still, I swear, one of these days..."

"Do you doubt Alvin?" Simon asked.

"Do you have confidence in him?" Dave asked.

Both Simon and Dave paused for a short while, unsure how to answer each other's questions. Dave doesn't necessarily doubt Alvin, he certainly knows that Alvin is actually quite capable of handling himself, despite the consequences of his actions. At the same time, Simon doesn't necessarily have confidence in Alvin, but he certainly doesn't doubt that Alvin can take care of himself either. Back at the hospital, a nurse escorted Brittany down the hallway.

"Can I see my little sister, please?" Brittany asked.

"Okay," the nurse said, "but just for a little bit, she's still conserving her energy."

The nurse took Brittany into Jeanette's room. Brittany dashed over to Jeanette's bed.

"Jeanette?" Brittany asked. "Jeanette?"

"I'm afraid she's still asleep, dear." The nurse said.

"Is she going to be okay?" Brittany asked.

"Hopefully..." the nurse said, softly, as she placed her hand on Brittany's head, "come on..."

"I love you, Jeanette..." Brittany said, as the nurse began to take her out of the room.

"I... love... you... Brittany..." Jeanette mumbled.

Brittany turned around, and saw Jeanette had lolled her head to the side, to catch a glimpse of Brittany, but without her glasses, she couldn't see, so she squinted. Jeanette parted her lips to speak again, but fell asleep again. The nurse took Brittany into a room of her own.

"Why did you want to see me?" Brittany asked.

"Well, as I understand it, you've been through a little ordeal lately." The nurse said.

Brittany hung her head in embarrassment. "You're talking about me being raped, aren't you?"

The nurse nodded. "Mm-hmm... something that we need to draw medical attention to."

"My bruises are almost gone, and I can see out of my eye again, it just hurts to touch it... see?" Brittany touched the outside of her black eye. "Ow!"

"No doubt your bruises will go away, sweetheart," the nurse said, "but we need to talk to you about something else..."

"What?" Brittany asked.

"Miss Miller?" Eleanor asked.

"Hmm?" Miss Miller responded.

"Are the nurses going to take care of Brittany, too?" Eleanor asked.

"I don't know, quite frankly, what they're going to do, Eleanor," Miss Miller said, "I'm just nervous about something..."

"What?" Eleanor asked.

"Nothing..." Miss Miller lied.

"You were right..." Eleanor said, softly.

"What about?"

"About Brittany still needing us."

"Of course she still needs you," Miss Miller wrapped an arm around Eleanor, "like I said, Brittany was upset, and said some things she didn't mean, but during these hard times, what she needs the most is to be surrounded by the ones she loves, and that includes you and Jeanette. You girls are truely inseperable. Brittany would be so lost without her little sisters... and I know you girls would be worse off without your big sister."

"Yeah..." Eleanor said, wiping some tears from her eyes.

"This has been quite a traumatic experience for everyone." Miss Miller said.

"Even you?" Eleanor asked.

"Of course, even me," Miss Miller said, "my mind is in a million places right now... one of my children has been raped, my other two have been hit by a truck, one of them is in the hospital, while the other sprained her ankle, meanwhile, the hooligan who attacked Brittany is still on the loose... when you get to be my age, the only thing you usually have to worry about is hip-replacements..."

Jeanette was woken up enough to realize she was in a hospital room, so she reached for a remote, and buzzed for a nurse for assistance. Another nurse walked into the room.

"What seems to be the problem?" She asked.

"What am I doing here?" Jeanette asked. "I don't remember anything happening..."

"Well, you were struck by a truck..." the nurse began.

"I was?" Jeanette asked.

"Yes, you received quite a nasty blow to your head, which is why we have it stitched, and bandaged for you. You lost a lot of blood, so we're making sure your I.V. is changed when needed, and you've already taken two bags."

"Gee..." Jeanette mumbled.

"You might have also had some trauma to your legs, but we're not too sure." The nurse added.

"I need to call my mother..." Jeanette said.

"She's here, would you like to see her?"

"Yeah..."

"I'll get her for you." The nurse said, with a smile, as she left the room, while Jeanette bundled up in her blanket. She felt cold.

The nurse that took care of Jeanette stepped out in the waiting room. "Miss Miller?"

"Yes?" Miss Miller asked.

"Jeanette's awake." She said, with a smile.

"Oh, thank heavens..." Miss Miller said, as she took Eleanor by the hand, and was escorted down to Jeanette's room.

Shortly thereafter, Jeanette looked up, when she heard the door open, and squinted to see who was walking in.

"Miss Miller?" Jeanette asked.

"Oh... look at you..." Miss Miller said, with tears in her eyes, "are you in any pain?"

"I don't know..." Jeanette mumbled, "I feel kind of numb right now... I don't know how I feel..."

"Where are your glasses?" Miss Miller asked.

"I don't know..."

"Oh, my poor baby..."

Eleanor grabbed a chair, pulled it next to Jeanette's bed, so she could stand on it, to see Jeanette.

"Hi, Jeanette." Eleanor said.

"Ellie?" Jeanette asked, with a squint.

"How about it?" Eleanor asked. "We got hit by a truck, but lived to talk about it."

"Yeah..." Jeanette said, without an ounce of interest.

"Hey, Jeanette?" Eleanor asked.

"Yeah?" Jeanette responded.

"I know this isn't the time... but thanks for getting my foot loose..." Eleanor said.

"Sure, no problem." Jeanette said.

"Do you need anything, darling?" Miss Miller asked.

"Another blanket, I'm freezing." Jeanette said.

"I'll go ask the nurse for one." Miss Miller said, as she stepped out of the room.

"Oh, Miss Miller..." the nurse, attending to Brittany, called out, as she walked down the hallway.

"Yes?" Miss Miller responded.

"I'm glad I caught you, I wanted to talk to you about Brittany..." the nurse said.

Miss Miller turned pale. "She... she... she isn't... is she?"

"Well, we don't know," the nurse said, "we really wouldn't be able to tell at this point."

Miss Miller turned ever paler. "Is it even possible for a girl her age to get... get..."

"If whoever engaged in a sexual intercourse with her was able to produce sperm," the nurse said, "and released in her, which is obviously what happened, then yes, it is possible."

Miss Miller hung her head, tears welled in her eyes, she let out a loud, sad sigh. She couldn't bare the thought of Brittany, an eight-year-old girl, pregnant.

"I wouldn't worry about it at this point," the nurse said, "like I said, we wouldn't be able to tell for sure at this point, the earliest we would be able to test and see would be at least three weeks, but hopefully, we won't have to worry about that at all."

"Did you tell her that?" Miss Miller asked.

"I was hoping you could talk to her about it." The nurse said.

"I don't think I could..." Miss Miller said, softly.

"Who better to talk to her about it, than her own mother?" The nurse asked.

Miss Miller sighed. "And she's been through enough trauma already..."

"I know, the poor dear," the nurse said, "I can just see the trauma in her eyes... it's a very traumatic experience. Especially for a girl her age." The nurse shook her head, "what is this world coming to?"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know." Miss Miller said. "Well, thank you... where's her room?"

"Right down here, if you'll follow me..." the nurse led Miss Miller to Brittany's room, where she was sitting on top of the doctor's stool.

"Are you okay, Brittany?" Miss Miller asked, as she stepped into the room.

"Not really..." Brittany said, "I just saw Jeanette, she looked awful..."

"I know..." Miss Miller said, as the nurse placed her hand on her shoulder, before leaving the room. "Brittany... there's something I need to talk to you about..."

"What?" Brittany asked.

Back in Jeanette's room, Eleanor was worried about Miss Miller.

"She's never had to deal with anything like this before..." Eleanor said.

"I know..." Jeanette mumbled, "all three of us, like this... me laid up in the hospital, you with your sprained ankle, Brittany being the victim of rape..."

"You think Miss Miller is stressed out?" Eleanor asked.

"No doubt..." Jeanette said with a sigh.

After several, tiring minutes, Miss Miller walked back into Jeanette's room, followed by Brittany. Miss Miller had brought Jeanette her extra blanket.

"Here you go, dear..." Miss Miller said, handing Jeanette her blanket.

"Thank you." Jeanette said, softly.

"Jeanette!" Brittany cried. "I'm going to have a baby!"

"What?!" Jeanette and Eleanor shrieked.

"The doctors don't know for sure," Miss Miller said rather sternly, not wanting Brittany to talk about it, "but hopefully, you won't."

"Why is Brittany going to have a baby?" Jeanette asked.

"We'll talk about it later," Miss Miller said, "right now, I'm going to take Brittany and Eleanor home."

"You mean you're just going to leave me here?" Jeanette asked.

"The doctors want to keep you here overnight," Miss Miller said, "but don't worry, we'll be back first thing in the morning."

"Okay..." Jeanette said, nervously.

Miss Miller leaned over, and very easily, gave Jeanette a kiss on the cheek. "Just bundle up in your blankets, and take it easy."

"Okay..." Jeanette said, quietly, as she watched her mother, and her sisters leave the room.

The drive home was really tense for everyone, especially Miss Miller.

"I just don't understand," Eleanor said, "why is Brittany going to have a baby?"

"She's not going to have a baby!" Miss Miller snapped. "I hope..." she mumbled under her breath.

"I don't want to have a baby!" Brittany cried. "I haven't even finished grade school yet!"

"You won't have a baby!" Miss Miller yelled, startling Brittany and Eleanor.

Back in the neighborhood, Alvin finally made it home, which he happily busted through the front door, and began calling for Dave.

"Dave!" Alvin called. "Dave! Dave!"

Dave came running from the den. "Alvin?! Alvin Seville, where in the world have you been?"

"Snoopin'." Alvin said, casually, "but that's besides the point."

"Alvin!" Dave yelled.

"Dave, we need to call the police!" Alvin said, "I found the guy who raped Brittany, and I know that he, and his buddies are planning to rob a music store tonight! If we can tell the police, they can catch them in the act!"

"Are you sure, Alvin?" Dave asked.

"Positive!" Alvin squealed.

Outside, Miss Miller pulled into the driveway, next door. She stepped out of the car, and had her daughters do the same. Eleanor got out of the car, followed by Brittany, but Brittany had to stop.

"My shoes are untied..." she said, as she bent over to tie them, while Miss Miller and Eleanor stepped into the house.

A yard away, the gang made their way to the Seville house.

"Razzle-dazzle, is this where what's-his-name lives?!" Slinko asked.

"Say... what is his name, anyway?" Chunky Monkey asked.

"Never mind that," Tone said, "check it out..."

Tone pointed over to the left, where Brittany was kneeling on her driveway, tying her shoes.

"Dude, is that the girl?!" Tox asked.

"Yeah..." Tone said, sheepishly, "come on..."

Brittany finished tying her shoelaces, but when she stood up, she saw she was surrounded by six, scary-looking guys, one of which was the one who raped her. Brittany was terrifyed.

"You boys like what you see?" Tone said with a chuckle, as the rest of the gang all smiled sickly, at Brittany.

Brittany started sweating, tears were forming in her eyes, she held onto to her skirt, tightly. Alvin dashed out of his house, wanting to relate the plan to Brittany, but saw what was happening.

"Hey!" Alvin called out at them.

"Alvin!" Brittany screamed. "Help me!"

"You know that pipsqueak?" Slinko asked.

Brittany nodded, blinking back tears. Mutey pointed to Tone, Tox, and Chunky Monkey, them pointed his thumb towards Alvin, signalling them to take care of Alvin, while he, Slinko, and another, un-named member of their association gang up on Brittany. With the sanp of his fingers, and with lightning speed, Slinko grabbed Brittany, as she started kicking and screaming, and began to run off with her, followed by Mutey and the unknown gang-banger, while Tone, Tox, and Chunky Monkey ran towards Alvin, and tackled him to the ground. Dave stepped outside, to see what the commotion was.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Dave screamed, as he ran to Alvin's aid.

"We're not through with you, pipsqueak!" Chunky Monkey said, quietly.

"We're coming back for you, after we have some fun with the girly!" Tone said.

The gang-bangers got off of Alvin, and took off in a flash, behind the rest of the gang, when Dave ran over to Alvin.

"Alvin, are you alright?!" Dave asked his bruised up son.

"Never mind me..." Alvin mumbled, a little dazed, "they've got Brittany... we need to save her..." 


	8. Law and Order

My Lips are Sealed - Chapter Eight "Law and Order"

Miss Miller stepped outside.

"Brittany?" She asked.

"Miss Miller!" Dave called, from his front yard. "A gang just made off with Brittany, I'm calling the police right now!" Dave scooped up Alvin, who was just beaten up by some of the gang, and ran back into the house to call the police.

"Merciful... what?!" Miss Miller asked.

Eleanor stepped to the doorway.

"What's going on, Miss Miller?" Eleanor asked.

"I think David just said that a gang just ran off with Brittany!" Miss Miller shrieked.

"Oh no!" Eleanor cried. "We've got to save her!"

"I believe David's calling the police right now!"

Dave was frantically relating the ordeal to the police over the phone regarding Brittany, when Simon and Theodore ran downstairs.

"What happened to you, Alvin?!" Theodore cried.

Alvin tried to pick himself up. "No time... for that..." he mumbled, "we've got to save Brittany..." Alvin tried running out the door, limping slightly.

"Dave!" Theodore cried out. "Alvin's going after Brittany!"

"What?!" Dave said, as he broke away from the phone. "Alvin! You stay right here young man! Alvin!!!"

"Mr. Seville?" The voice over the phone asked. "Mr. Seville?"

"Pardon me, my son, Alvin, is trying to chase after the gang himself..." Dave resumed the phone conversation. "Okay great, please hurry!" Dave hung up the phone, and ran after Alvin.

"Alvin!" Dave hollered. "Alvin, the police are sending a couple of cars in the direction the gang was heading right now, you don't need to get involved in this!"

"Yes I do!" Alvin said, determined.

"Why?" Dave asked, in dispair.

Alvin paused. "Dave?"

"Yes, Alvin?" Dave asked.

Alvin gulped. He pulled his beloved, red cap over his face, and told Dave. "I love her."

"You what?" Dave asked, not understanding Alvin, with his cap over his face.

Alvin pulled his cap back. "I love her, Dave! I love Brittany... Brittany's just about the swellest girl ever... and I want to help her in anyway I can... I have to go after those punks, I just got to!"

"It's out of the question, Alvin," Dave said, "they're all bigger, and stronger than you are, you might not make it out alive!"

"Meanwhile, Brittany might not make it out alive!" Alvin said.

That's when Miss Miller ran back out of the house, and jumped into her car.

"What are you doing, Miss Miller?!" Dave asked.

"I'm going after those hooligans who took my Brittany!" Miss Miller said. "Nobody is going to mess with my girl on my watch!" Miss Miller started the engine.

"I'm coming with you!" Alvin said, as he tried to run over to Miss Miller's car.

"Alvin!" Dave yelled, causing Alvin to pause, and turn around. "You're not going with Miss Miller..."

Alvin hung his head, almost about to cry, thinking he won't be able to help the girl he loves.

"... Unless I'm with you as well!" Dave finished.

Alvin smiled.

"Come on, kids!" Dave yelled, as Eleanor ran out of her house, and Simon and Theodore ran out of their house.

They all jumped into Miss Miller's car, as she pulled out of her driveway.

"Hold on tight, youngens!" Miss Miller said. "Prepare to meet 'The Little Old Lady From Pasidina!" Miss Miller pushed the pedal to the metal, and her car took off, with a screech.

"Go granny, go granny, go granny, go!" Alvin chanted.

Miss Miller's car sped off, meanwhile, the gang was running down another street, with Brittany. Brittany was crying her eyes out. She didn't know if they were all going to rape her, or if they were possibly going to kill her.

"I had a great time, the other day..." Tone said, sickly to Brittany, "I wouldn't mind doing it all over again."

Brittany wailed.

"But when we're through with you, you're going to get it!" Tone yelled.

"Yeah, chickita," Slinko added, "when Tone here tells you to keep your trap shut, you keep your trap shut!"

Brittany continued wailing, while Slinko placed his hand over her mouth, in an attempt to shut her up. The gang heard a screech, turned around, and saw Miss Miller's car pull onto the street. Mutey pointed off to the side, as the punks ducks into an opening in someone's fence. Once there, they ran over to the end of the yard, each helping each other over the fence, and once that was done, they ran over to the subway station, and without anymore trouble, managed to grab a train. Unfortunately, for Brittany, they had the whole car to themselves.

"Hey," Chunky Monkey spoke up, "this train's taking us to our silver tuna!"

Tone looked at Brittany. "Alright..." He grabbed Brittany by the front of her little shirt, and lifted her off the ground. "Make a deal with you, hot stuff..."

Brittany blinked back her tears, and slowly kicked her feet, that were dangling in the air.

"We need someone small to fit into the vent, that leads to the roof, where the emergency fuse box is in this place we're casing for some new stereos for our headquarters..." Tone said to Brittany, "you do that for us, and we won't kill you..."

"Y-you won't?" Brittany asked.

"Nah." Tone said, while the others shook their heads.

"Does... does that mean you'll let me go?" Brittany asked.

"I didn't say that..." Tone mumbled.

"I get her first when we get back!" Slinko called out.

"Like hell you do!" Chunky Monkey piped in. "I get first dibs!"

The other gang members began arguing over who was going to have sex with Brittany after they pulled off their job, but were silenced when Mutey put his gimp foot with the big shoe down. Literally. Up in the engine, the conductor of the train was watching the security cameras very carefully, and called for a security guard to check the last car for suspicious activity. In the back car, Mutey took Brittany away from Tone, and walked over to the back of the car with her. He pinned her to the seat, and looked her dead in the eye. It was clear if anyone was going to have Brittany first when the job was over, it was him. Slowly, he placed his free hand in the middle of Brittany's chest, and slowly rubbed it up and down her torso. Brittany couldn't stand it anymore. She didn't like being touched like this, it was terribly uncomfortable for her. Suddenly, the train came to a stop.

"Come on, Mutey, this is it!" Slinko called out.

Mutey grabbed Brittany by the front of her shirt again, and lead his gang out of the train, and out of the subway, a little too late for the security guard. Moments later, the gang saw they finally made it. They found themselves across the street from a shop called Hot Tunes, a shop that retails some very fancy, and very expensive stereos, sound systems, speakers, and all other sorts of goods that the gang would like for their hideout. They all ran across the road, when it was clear, and to the back of the shop.

"It's almost midnight," Slinko said, looking at his watch, "the joint should be closed any second now."

The lights went off inside, and the last personnel of the shop left the building, and took off for the night. Mutey carried Brittany over to the loading dock, where he signalled for the others to grab a tall ladder. Once the ladder was positioned, Mutey pointed at Brittany, then pointed to the vent, signalling for her to put her part of the plan into action. Brittany sadly sighed, and began to climb up the ladder, while the others watched. And looked up her little skirt, while they were at it. Once at the top of the ladder, Brittany stuck her thumbnail into the screws, and used it as a screwdriver. How she managed to pull it off without breaking it, even she doesn't know, but once all the screws were loose, the vent cover fell to the ground, causing a loud clank. The others looked around to make sure no one heard them, before Mutey had Brittany carry on with her mission. As she was crawling through the vent, she realized something... if she was the only one who could fit through the vent, to get inside the attic of the building, then the others couldn't come after her, right? Brittany made it into the attic, run into a corner of the room, dropped to the floor, and rested her head on her knees, silently crying. Outside, the other guys were waiting for her to pop out of the vent, and climb back down the ladder, which seemed to be taking an awfully long time to do. Slinko volunteered to climb up the ladder to see what the big deal was.

"Hey, what's going on in there?" Slinko asked. "You see a ghost or somethin'? Come on!"

Brittany kept quiet.

"Don't make us come after you!" Slinko threatened, as Brittany wrapped her arms around her knees, tighter, and tighter.

"I think she's hiding out!" Slinko called back down to the others.

"Dammit!" Tone snapped.

"What do we do now?" Tox asked.

Mutey walked around to the front of the store. He realized that the only way to get Brittany out, was to break in, albeit the alarm going off. So saying, Mutey kicked the glass door with his big shoe, causing it to shatter. The silent alarm was activated. Mutey, Slinko, and another punk waited outside, while Tone, Tox, and Chunky Monkey ran into the building. Brittany didn't know there was another way for them to get her, and when she heard what sounded like a herd of elephants running up a staircase, she began to panic. The door was busted down, and the three hoodlums ran over to Brittany, and grabbed her, while she screamed.

"Shut up her, man!" Chunky Monkey yelled.

Brittany resisted, so Tone through her up against the wall. The force of his throw was enough to knock Brittany out, when the back of her head hit the wall. Tone stood over her still body.

"What are you waitin' for man?" Tox asked. "Let's go!"

Tone didn't move.

"Come on!" Tox and Chunky Monkey pleaded.

Tone reached into his pocket, and pulled out a large knife.

"Aw man, don't kill her here!" Tox pleaded.

"Yeah dude, the alarm went off, the cops'll be here any minute man!" Chunky Monkey cried.

Sirens.

"Tone!!!" Tox and Chunky Monkey yelled.

Tone still remained motionless.

"Your sentence, man!" Tox yelled, as he ran out of the room.

"Bye-bye!" Chunky Monkey told Tone, as he too ran out of the room.

As the sirens grew louder, Tone dropped his knife, grabbed Brittany's lifeless body, and ran out of the room himself. The police arrived at the scene, and already, arrests were being made, so in the confusion, Tone managed to escape by running to the back of the building, and ducking into the dumpster in the back lot. Once inside the dumpster, Tone proceeded to undress Brittany. He was going to take advantage of her, while she was unconscious, one last time, before he finished her off. Tone had Brittany's top off, as well as her skirt, socks, and shoes, and was just about to rip off her underwear, when he heard a voice saying 'hold it right there!' Tone grabbed his knife, and wielded it, challenging anyone who was about to take him down. It was Alvin.

"Just back off, pipsqueak!" Tone threatened him. "Or I swear to God, I'll kill both of you!"

A shot was fired into the dumpster, knocking the knife out of Tone's hand. Without any other warning, Tone grabbed Alvin, and tossed him aside, in the dumpster, while he climbed out, and tried to make a break for it. More gunfire commensed. Alvin watched from inside, as Tone danced around the backlot, dodging bullets, until finally, he went down. The police moved in on him, as he tried to crawl away. When the police had him surrounded, Tone gasped for air, flipped them off, and passed on, right there, on the ground, while a stream of blood poured from the left side of his head. Alvin focused his attention on Brittany. The first thing he did was clothe her again. The rest of the family watched from the street, as the other gang members were forcefully forced into the waiting partrol cars, while a couple of more officers stepped outside the building, after having check it to make sure no one else was inside. They were all nervous, after hearing the series of gunshots. After that, time seemed to stand still for them, but pretty soon, here came Alvin, carrying the unconscious Brittany in his arm. Miss Miller fainted, while the standby cops all rushed over to see if Brittany was alright.

"He did it..." Dave said to himself, in astonishment, "he actually did it..."

Jeanette's room had an extra bed in it this time, as Brittany laid, unconscious, with her head bandaged. A nurse stood by, monitoring her, while the others waited in the waiting room, all sick to their stomaches after what just happened, and nervous as to if and when Brittany would wake up. Jeanette turned her head towards her unconscious, big sister. Jeanette tried to sit up, and lean over, so she could crawl into Brittany's bed.

"No, no, no..." the nurse said, easing Jeanette back down, "you'll pull your tubes out, you don't want that."

Another nurse poked her head in the door. "Carrie? Dr. Macaulay needs to see you in room 607."

"Okay." The nurse said, as she left Jeanette and Brittany's room.

Once out of the room, Jeanette, once again, sat up, and tried to crawl over into Brittany's bed. She wasn't able to, because if she did, she really would have pulled her tubes out. Jeanette sat there for a moment, looking at her unconscious, big sister, not knowing what else to do, so, she grabbed one of her spare blankets, and draped it over Brittany's bed, as best as she could, so Brittany could have extra warmth. Jeanette so longed to be able to embrace her big sister, but she couldn't. Jeanette thought about pulling her tube out after all, but if she did, it wouldn't be very pretty for her either. Jeanette sat there, and began to cry. The sound of Jeanette crying echoed into Brittany's subconscience, and when it started sinking in, Brittany slowly opened her eyes, and sat up in her bed.

"Jeanette?" Brittany asked.

Jeanette looked up. "Brittany!"

Brittany crawled out of her bed, and into Jeanette's, where the two sisters embraced each other, tightly, with tears in their eyes.

"I heard the police killed the guy who raped you, and sent the rest of the gang to jail!" Jeanette cried.

"Did they?" Brittany asked, not knowing this went on.

"Yeah..." Jeanette cried. "You're safe, Brittany, you're finally safe again!"

"Alvin said he was going to kill you..." Jeanette cried. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Brittany, you're my only big sister, and you're the best big sister ever."

Brittany sniffed, really loudly. "I'll always be here for you, Jeanette. Always."

The sun began to rise, as Brittany was escorted into the waiting room, where her loved ones were relieved to see her awake. Miss Miller scooped up Brittany, and cuddled her, so tenderly, Brittany started crying all over again, as did Miss Miller. Miss Miller was so glad that her daughter was okay, and that the one who hurt her would hurt her no more. Miss Miller gently kissed Brittany's head.

"I love you, Brittany." Miss Miller told her.

"I love you, too, Miss Miller." Brittany responded, as she rested her head on Miss Miller's shoulder.

Moments later, out in the hallway.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue, Alvin... that was so brave of you..." Brittany said.

"I wasn't going to let that punk take you away from me!" Alvin said. "Us... I mean, I wasn't going to let him take your life, and take you out of our lives... I mean... Brittany?"

"Yeah?" Brittany asked.

"Brittany... I... I don't know how to tell you this..." Alvin hoped that the day he confessed his feelings to Brittany, he'd be able to tough it up, and be a man about it, but he almost broke down. "Brittany, when you first told me that guy raped you, I felt like somebody took and ice pick, and just poked holes in my heart over, and over, and over again... I was so upset that he hurt you, and I was just so angry... I... I had to find him... I had to take him out of action... I had to save you... I love you, Brittany! I love you!"

Brittany paused. "You... do...?"

"Yes!" Alvin cried.

Brittany paused again, but slowly, she smiled, let more tears fall from her eyes, as she raced into Alvin's arms.

"Oh, Alvin..." Brittany weeped, "I love you, too! More than ever now, because you're my hero!"

Alvin embraced Brittany tightly. "I won't let anybody ever hurt you, ever again, Brittany. I promise." Alvin pulled away from Brittany slightly, so he could look her dead in the eye. "I promise."

The two stood there, for a moment, before Alvin kissed Brittany, on the lips. Brittany couldn't help but chuckle, as Alvin wiped the tears from her eyes, ignoring his own. Three weeks later, at the same hospital, Miss Miller had brought Brittany back down for a test.

"Well?" Miss Miller asked. "Please tell me the truth..."

The doctor looked up from his chart, with a smile. "Negative."

"Negative?" Miss Miller asked.

"Negative." The doctor raised his glasses above his eyes, resting them on his head. "While sadly, she's lost her innocence, luckily, she's not pregnant."

Miss Miller breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God..." she said, softly.

"She's quite a girl," the doctor said, "she's been really lucky."

Back home, Miss Miller told the news to the girls.

"So, I'm not going to have a baby?" Brittany asked.

"No." Miss Miller said.

"That's good, right?" Jeanette asked.

"Of course it is!" Miss Miller cheered.

Brittany sprawled out, on the couch. "I'm so glad this is over..."

"Has your guidance councelor been a help to you?" Miss Miller asked.

"Yes, she has." Brittany said. "Being raped was the worst thing that ever happened to me... but at least I'm still alive, and at least I still have everyone I love with me, to help, and support me... because a lot of girls have been in my situation, and have been worse off..."

"You're a lucky girl, Brittany." Miss Miller said. "Very lucky."

The end.

Author's note: I hope those who have been reading, and reviewing realize that you helped the story build up. Congratulations, and thank you. 


End file.
